Title of Regulation: 2VAC5-585. Retail Food Establishment Regulations (amending 2VAC5-585-250, 2VAC5-585-330, 2VAC5-585-3310).

Statutory Authority: § 3.2-5121 of the Code of Virginia.

Effective Date: March 6, 2019.

Agency Contact: Ryan Davis, Program Manager, Office of Dairy and Foods, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, P.O. Box 1163, Richmond, VA 23218, telephone (804) 786-8910, FAX (804) 371-7792, TTY (800) 828-1120, or email ryan.davis@vdacs.virginia.gov.

Summary:

The amendments align regulations with legislation enacted during the 2018 Session of the General Assembly and include provisions that (i) exempt commercially slaughtered or processed rabbits that are offered for sale or service from being slaughtered or processed under a voluntary inspection program administered by the department or the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Chapter 674) and (ii) allow dogs in designated areas inside or on the premises of a licensed distillery, winery, farm winery, brewery, or farm brewery, except in any area used for the manufacture of food products (Chapter 819).

2VAC5-585-250. Handling of animals prohibited.

A. Except as specified in subsection B of this section, food employees may not care for or handle animals that may be present such as patrol dogs, service animals, or pets that are allowed as specified in subdivisions B 2 through B 6 and subsection C of 2VAC5-585-3310.^Pf

B. Food employees with service animals may handle or care for their service animals, and food employees may handle or care for fish in aquariums or molluscan shellfish or crustacea in display tanks if they wash their hands as specified under 2VAC5-585-140 and subdivision 3 of 2VAC5-585-160.

2VAC5-585-330. Game animals.

A. If game animals are received for sale or service they shall be:

1. Commercially raised for food and raised, slaughtered, and processed under a voluntary inspection program that is conducted by the state agency that has animal health jurisdiction or under a voluntary inspection program administered by the USDA for game animals such as exotic animals (i.e., reindeer, elk, deer, antelope, water buffalo, or bison) that are "inspected and approved" in accordance with 9 CFR Part 352, or rabbits that are "inspected and certified" in accordance with 9 CFR Part 354;^P

2. As allowed by law, for wild game animals that are live-caught:

a. Under a routine inspection program conducted by a regulatory agency such as the agency that has animal health jurisdiction;^P

b. Slaughtered and processed according to:

(1) Laws governing meat and poultry as determined by the agency that has animal health jurisdiction and the agency that conducts the inspection program;^P and

(2) Requirements that are developed by the agency that has animal health jurisdiction and the agency that conducts the inspection program with consideration of factors such as the need for antemortem and postmortem examination by an approved veterinarian or veterinarian's designee;^P or

3. As allowed by law for field-dressed wild game animals under a routine inspection program that ensures the animals:

a. Receive a postmortem examination by an approved veterinarian or veterinarian's designee; ^P

b. Are field-dressed and transported according to requirements specified by the agency that has animal health jurisdiction and the agency that conducts the inspection program;^P and

c. Are processed according to laws governing meat and poultry as determined by the agency that has animal health jurisdiction and the agency that conducts the inspection program.^P

B. A game animal may not be received for sale or service if it is a species of wildlife that is listed in 50 CFR Part 17.

C. The requirements of subsection A of this section shall not apply to commercially slaughtered or processed rabbits that are offered for sale or service.

2VAC5-585-3310. Prohibiting animals.

A. Except as specified in subsections B and, C, and D of this section, live animals may not be allowed on the premises of a food establishment.^Pf

B. Live animals may be allowed in the following situations if the contamination of food; clean equipment, utensils, and linens; and unwrapped single-service and single-use articles cannot result:

1. Edible fish or decorative fish in aquariums, shellfish or crustacea on ice or under refrigeration, and shellfish and crustacea in display tank systems;

2. Patrol dogs accompanying police or security officers in offices and dining, sales, and storage areas, and sentry dogs running loose in outside fenced areas;

3. In areas that are not used for food preparation and that are usually open for customers, such as dining and sales areas, service animals that are controlled by the disabled employee or person, if a health or safety hazard will not result from the presence or activities of the service animal;

4. Pets in the common dining areas of institutional care facilities such as nursing homes, assisted living facilities, group homes, or residential care facilities at times other than during meals if:

a. Effective partitioning and self-closing doors separate the common dining areas from food storage or food preparation areas;

b. Condiments, equipment, and utensils are stored in enclosed cabinets or removed from the common dining areas when pets are present; and

c. Dining areas including tables, countertops, and similar surfaces are effectively cleaned before the next meal service;

5. In areas that are not used for food preparation, storage, sales, display, or dining, in which there are caged animals or animals that are similarly confined, such as in a variety store that sells pets or a tourist park that displays animals; and

6. Dogs in outdoor dining areas if:

a. The outdoor dining area is not fully enclosed with floor to ceiling walls and is not considered a part of the interior physical facility.

b. The outdoor dining area is equipped with an entrance that is separate from the main entrance to the food establishment, and the separate entrance serves as the sole means of entry for patrons accompanied by dogs.

c. A sign stating that dogs are allowed in the outdoor dining area is posted at each entrance to the outdoor dining area in such a manner as to be clearly observable by the public.

d. A sign within the outdoor dining area stating the requirements as specified in subdivisions 6 e, f, and g of this subsection is provided in such a manner as to be clearly observable by the public.

e. Food and water provided to dogs is served using equipment that is not used for the service of food to a person or is served in single-use articles.

f. Dogs are not allowed on chairs, seats, benches, or tables.

g. Dogs are kept on a leash or within a pet carrier and under the control of an adult at all times.

h. The establishment provides effective means for cleaning up dog vomitus and fecal matter.

C. A dog may be allowed within a designated area inside or on the premises of, except in any area used for the manufacture of food products, a distillery licensed pursuant to § 4.1-206 of the Code of Virginia, a winery or farm winery licensed pursuant to § 4.1-207 of the Code of Virginia, or a brewery or farm brewery licensed pursuant to § 4.1-208 of the Code of Virginia.

D. Live or dead fish bait may be stored if contamination of food; clean equipment, utensils, and linens; and unwrapped single-service and single-use articles cannot result.

Title of Regulation: 4VAC20-610. Pertaining to Commercial Fishing and Mandatory Harvest Reporting (amending 4VAC20-610-40).

Effective Date: January 28, 2019.

Agency Contact: Jennifer Farmer, Regulatory Coordinator, Marine Resources Commission, 380 Fenwick Road, Building 96, Fort Monroe, VA 23651, telephone (757) 247-2248, or email jennifer.farmer@mrc.virginia.gov.

Summary:

The street address for the main office of the Marine Resources Commission is changed to 380 Fenwick Road, Building 96, Fort Monroe, Virginia 23651.

Title of Regulation: 4VAC20-950. Pertaining to Black Sea Bass (amending 4VAC20-950-20, 4VAC20-950-45, 4VAC20-950-46, 4VAC20-950-48.1, 4VAC20-950-49).

Statutory Authority: § 28.2-201 of the Code of Virginia.

Effective Date: January 23, 2019.

Agency Contact: Jennifer Farmer, Regulatory Coordinator, Marine Resources Commission, 380 Fenwick Road, Building 96, Fort Monroe, VA 23651, telephone (757) 247-2248, or email jennifer.farmer@mrc.virginia.gov.

Summary:

The amendments establish a February 2019 recreational black sea bass fishery, modify the recreational black sea bass permitting requirements, and improve the characterization of directed and bycatch fishery permits for the black sea bass fishery.

4VAC20-950-20. Definitions.

The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meaning unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

"Black sea bass" means any fish of the species Centropristis striata.

"Land" or "landing" means to (i) enter port with finfish, shellfish, crustaceans, or other marine seafood on board any boat or vessel; (ii) begin offloading finfish, shellfish, crustaceans, or other marine seafood; or (iii) offload finfish, shellfish, crustaceans, or other marine seafood.

"Recreational vessel" means any vessel, kayak, charter vessel, or headboat participating in the recreational black sea bass fishery.

"Snout" means the most forward projection from a fish's head that includes the upper and lower jaw.

"Total length" means the length of a fish measured from the most forward projection of the snout, with the mouth closed, to the tip of the longer lobe of the tail (caudal) fin, excluding the caudal fin filament, measured with the tail compressed along the midline, using a straight-line measure, not measured over the curve of the body.

4VAC20-950-45. Recreational possession limits and seasons.

A. It shall be unlawful for any person fishing with hook and line, rod and reel, spear, gig, or other recreational gear to possess more than 15 black sea bass. When fishing is from a boat or vessel where the entire catch is held in a common hold or container, the possession limit shall be for that boat or vessel and shall be equal to the number of persons on board legally licensed to fish, multiplied by 15. The captain or operator of the boat or vessel shall be responsible for that boat or vessel possession limit. Any black sea bass taken after the possession limit has been reached shall be returned to the water immediately.

B. Possession of any quantity of black sea bass that exceeds the possession limit described in subsection A of this section shall be presumed to be for commercial purposes.

C. The open recreational fishing season shall be from February 1 through February 28 and May 15 through December 31.

D. It shall be unlawful for any person fishing recreationally to take, catch, or possess any black sea bass, except during an open recreational season.

E. It From February 1 through February 28, it shall be unlawful for any person fishing recreationally to take, catch, or to possess or land any black sea bass from February 1 through February 28 without first having harvested from a recreational vessel, unless the captain or operator of that recreational vessel has obtained a Recreational Black Sea Bass Permit from the Marine Resources Commission. It shall be unlawful for any permittee to fail to contact the Marine Resources Commission Operation Station before returning to shore at the end of the fishing trip. The permittee captain or operator shall provide the operation station with be responsible for reporting for all anglers on the recreational vessel and shall provide his name, Marine Resources Commission identification (MRC ID) number, the point of landing, a description of the vessel, and an estimated return to shore time. Any such permittee shall submit a report for any recreational black sea bass fishing trips, which incudes that permittee's MRC ID number, the date of fishing, the mode of fishing number of individuals on board, the mode of fishing, and the number of black sea bass kept or released. That report shall be submitted to the commission or to the Standard Atlantic Fisheries Information System no later than March 15 of the current calendar year, as described in this subsection. Any authorized permittee shall allow commission staff to sample the catch to obtain biological information for scientific and management purposes only. It shall be unlawful for any permittee to fail to report trips where black sea bass were caught, whether harvested, released, or possessed in accordance with this section, on forms provided by the commission or through the Virginia Saltwater Fisherman's Journal within seven days after the trip occurred. It shall be unlawful for any permittee to fail to report trips where black sea bass were targeted but not successfully caught by March 15 of the current calendar year. Any permittee who did not participate in the recreational black sea bass season during February shall notify the commission of his lack of participation by March 15 of the current calendar year.

F. It shall be unlawful for any permittee to fail to contact the Law Enforcement Operations at 1-800-541-4646 before or immediately after the start of each fishing trip. The permittee shall provide the Law Enforcement Operations with his name, MRC ID number, the point of landing, a description of the vessel, estimated return to shore time, and a contact phone number. Any authorized permittee shall allow commission staff to sample the catch to obtain biological information for scientific and management purposes only.

4VAC20-950-46. Directed fishery and bycatch fishery permits.

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to participate in the commercial black sea bass fishery or to possess, harvest, or sell black sea bass, except as described in 4VAC20-950-60 and 4VAC20-950-70, without first qualifying for and obtaining either a directed fishery permit or a bycatch fishery permit from the commission, as described, respectively, in subsections B and, C, and D of this section, unless that person meets the requirements described in 4VAC20-950-48.2.

B. A Any person shall be considered eligible for a directed commercial black sea bass fishery permit who qualified for a directed commercial black sea bass fishery permit, as of January 1, 2003, by satisfying all of the following eligibility criteria: listed in this subsection shall remain eligible for that permit, unless that person permanently transferred all his shares of the directed fishery quota.

1. That person shall hold either a Commercial Fisherman Registration License or a Seafood Landing License in addition to a federal Black Sea Bass Moratorium Permit; and

2. That person shall have landed and sold in Virginia at least 10,000 pounds of black sea bass from July 1, 1997, through December 31, 2001.

C. Any person who meets the eligibility criteria of subsection B of this section but no longer meets the requirements of subdivision B 1 of this section shall remain eligible to transfer shares of his quota in accordance with 4VAC20-950-48.1.

C. D. A person shall be considered eligible for a bycatch commercial black sea bass fishery permit by satisfying all of the following eligibility criteria:

1. That person shall hold either a Commercial Fisherman Registration License or a Seafood Landing License, in addition to a federal Black Sea Bass Moratorium Permit; and

2. That person shall have landed and sold in Virginia at least one pound of black sea bass from July 1, 1997, through December 31, 2001.

4VAC20-950-48.1. Individual transferable quotas.

A. Shares of the directed fishery quota, in pounds, held by any permitted fisherman in the directed fishery may be transferred to another person, and such transfer shall allow the transferee to harvest, possess and land black sea bass in Virginia in a quantity equal to the shares of the directed fishery quota transferred, provided that transferee satisfies the eligibility requirements described in 4VAC20-950-46 B 1.

B. Any transfer of black sea bass shall be limited by the following conditions.

1. Commercial black sea bass shares of the directed fishery quota shall not be transferred in any quantity less than 200 pounds.

2. No person permitted for the directed fishery may hold more than 20% of the annual directed fishery quota.

3. No transfer of shares of the black sea bass directed fishery quota shall be authorized unless such transfer is documented on a form provided by the commission and approved by the commissioner.

4. Any person who receives a permanent transfer of quota but does not satisfy the eligibility requirements described in 4VAC20-950-46 B 1 shall remain eligible to transfer shares of his quota in accordance with this section.

B. C. Transfers of all or a portion of any person's share of the directed fishery quota may be permanent or temporary. Transferred quota shall only be used by the transferee for black sea bass landed in Virginia. Permanent transfers of shares of directed fishery quota shall grant to the transferee that transferred share of the quota for future years, and the transferor loses that same transferred share of the directed fishery quota in future years. Temporary transfers of shares of the directed fishery quota shall allow the transferee to harvest that transferred share of the directed fishery quota during the year in which the transfer is approved. Thereafter, any transferred share of the directed fishery quota reverts back to the transferor.

4VAC20-950-49. Reporting requirements.

A. It shall be unlawful for any person permitted for the directed fishery, the bycatch fishery, or for an authorized alternate landing vessel to fail to contact, within one hour of landing, the Marine Resources Commission's Law Enforcement Operations Division to report his name and the name of the vessel, his permit number, the location where catch will be offloaded, and the estimated weight of the landing of black sea bass.

B. It shall be unlawful for any person permitted for the directed fishery, the bycatch fishery, or for an authorized alternate landing vessel to fail to contact, within 24 hours of landing, the Marine Resources Commission's Interactive Voice Recording System to report the name of the permit holder and the name of the vessel that landed the black sea bass, date of landing, the permit number and the weight of black sea bass landed.

C. Any buyer of black sea bass from a directed fishery permittee, a bycatch fishery permittee, or an authorized alternate landing vessel shall maintain records of all purchases for the current year and prior year and make those records available to the Marine Resources Commission upon request.

FORMS (4VAC20-950)

2019 Recreational/Charter Reporting Form (rev. 12/2018)

Title of Regulation: 9VAC5-140. Regulation for Emissions Trading Programs (Rev. C17) (adding 9VAC5-140-6010 through 9VAC5-140-6440).

Statutory Authority: §§ 10.1-1308 and 10.1-1322.3 of the Code of Virginia; §§ 108, 109, 110, and 302 of the Clean Air Act; 40 CFR Part 51.

Public Hearing Information: No public hearings are scheduled.

Public Comment Deadline: March 6, 2019.

Agency Contact: Karen G. Sabasteanski, Department of Environmental Quality, 1111 East Main Street, Suite 1400, P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218, telephone (804) 698-4426, FAX (804) 698-4510, or email karen.sabasteanski@deq.virginia.gov.

Basis: Section 10.1-1308 of the Code of Virginia authorizes the State Air Pollution Control Board to promulgate regulations abating, controlling, and prohibiting air pollution in order to protect public health and welfare.

State Requirements: Executive Directive 11 (2017), "Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions from the Electric Power Sector and Growing Virginia's Clean Energy Economy," directs the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality, in coordination with the Secretary of Natural Resources, to take the following actions in accordance with the provisions and requirements of Chapter 13 (§ 10.1-1300 et seq.) of Title 10 of the Code of Virginia and Chapter 40 (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.) of Title 2.2 of the Code of Virginia:

1. Develop a proposed regulation for the State Air Pollution Control Board's consideration to abate, control, or limit CO₂ from electric power facilities that:

a. Includes provisions to ensure that Virginia's regulation is "trading-ready" to allow for the use of market-based mechanisms and the trading of CO₂ allowances through a multistate trading program; and

b. Establishes abatement mechanisms providing for a corresponding level of stringency to limits on CO₂ emissions imposed in other states with such limits.

2. By no later than December 31, 2017, present the proposed regulation to the State Air Pollution Control Board for consideration for approval for public comment in accordance with the board's authority pursuant to § 10.1-1308 of the Code of Virginia.

Additionally, on May 12, 2017, the Attorney General issued an official advisory opinion that concluded the board is legally authorized to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG): "The Board has the authority to establish a statewide cap on GHG emissions for all new and existing fossil fuel electric generating plants as a means of abating and controlling such emissions."

Purpose: The regulation is needed to control CO₂ emissions in order to protect the public's health and welfare. The reproposed regulation is being developed in order to meet the direction of Governor McAuliffe's Executive Directive 11 (2017), "Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions from the Electric Power Sector and Growing Virginia's Clean Energy Economy," which states:

"There is no denying the science and the real-world evidence that climate change threatens the Commonwealth of Virginia, from our homes and businesses to our critical military installations and ports. Rising storm surges and flooding could impact as many as 420,000 properties along Virginia's coast that would require $92 billion of reconstruction costs.

The challenges and costs of bolstering resilience and minimizing risk are too great for any locality to bear alone. While the impacts are significant, there are technologies in the clean energy sector that could help mitigate these impacts while simultaneously creating jobs in twenty-first century industries. The number of solar jobs in Virginia has grown by 65 percent in the last year alone, and Virginia is now the ninth fastest growing solar jobs market in the country. Revenue for clean energy businesses in Virginia has increased from $300 million in 2014 to $1.5 billion in 2016. Through state leadership, Virginia can face the threats of climate change head on and do so in a way that makes clean energy a pillar of our future economic growth and a meaningful part of our energy portfolio.

With these considerations in mind, I issued Executive Order 57 (EO 57) on June 28, 2016. Under EO 57, I directed the Secretary of Natural Resources to convene a work group to study and recommend methods to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from electric power facilities and grow the clean energy economy within existing state authority. The group consisted of the Secretary of Natural Resources, the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, the Director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Director of the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, and the Deputy Attorney General for Commerce, Environment, and Technology. This group facilitated extensive stakeholder engagement over the last year, including six in-person meetings and a ninety-day public comment period, before compiling its recommendations and submitting a final report to me on May 12, 2017.

Among the most significant recommendations from the group is the need to develop regulations limiting the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted from electric power facilities. Given the nature of the climate change threat and the promise of clean energy solutions, I agree with this recommendation.

Accordingly, pursuant to the authority vested in me as the Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth, and pursuant to Article V of the Constitution and the laws of Virginia, I hereby direct the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality, in coordination with the Secretary of Natural Resources, to take the following actions in accordance with the provisions and requirements of Virginia Code § 10. 1-1300, et seq. and Virginia Code § 2.2-4000, et seq.:

1. Develop a proposed regulation for the State Air Pollution Control Board's consideration to abate, control, or limit carbon dioxide emissions from electric power facilities that:

a. Includes provisions to ensure that Virginia's regulation is "trading-ready" to allow for the use of market-based mechanisms and the trading of carbon dioxide allowances through a multi-state trading program; and

b. Establishes abatement mechanisms providing for a corresponding level of stringency to limits on carbon dioxide emissions imposed in other states with such limits.

2. By no later than December 31, 2017, present the proposed regulation to the State Air Pollution Control Board for consideration for approval for public comment in accordance with the Board's authority pursuant to Virginia Code § 10. 1-1308."

Additionally, Executive Order 57 Work Group's "Report and Final Recommendations to the Governor" states that:

"The Work Group received a number of presentations and written comments from stakeholders advocating for a regulation to limit carbon dioxide from power plants.  These comments included recommendations that the Commonwealth join or participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) or another regional trading program, that a price be put on carbon, and that Virginia strive to reduce its greenhouse gases by 30 to 40 percent by the year 2030. . . . Although many stakeholders provided feedback focused on specific in-state targets (such as 30x30), the Work Group believes that it is important and necessary that Virginia work through a regional model, like the established and successful RGGI, in order to achieve lower compliance costs and address the interstate nature of the electric grid."

The Work Group recommends that the Governor consider taking action via a regulatory process to establish a "trading-ready" carbon emissions reduction program for fossil fuel fired electric generating facilities that will enable participation in a broader, multi-state carbon market.

Substance:

1. The primary purpose of the regulation is to implement a declining cap on carbon emissions. The administrative means of accomplishing this will be effected by linking Virginia to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which is an established emissions trading program. An allowance will be issued for each ton of carbon emitted by an electricity generating facility. The company must then decide if it will reduce carbon emissions and sell the resulting additional allowances, or if it will not reduce carbon emissions and make up the difference with purchased allowances. The original proposal included two options on the base budgets, 33 million tons and 34 million tons. The board selected 28 million tons, which will determine, based on a 3.0% annual reduction, the annual budgets and allocations for future years.

2. The mechanism for determining the cost of allowances will be a consignment auction.

3. A cost containment reserve allowance will be offered for sale at an auction for the purpose of containing the cost of CO₂ allowances in the event of higher than anticipated emission reduction costs. An emission containment reserve allowance will be withheld from sale at an auction for the purpose of additional emission reduction in the event of lower than anticipated emission reduction costs.

4. Monitoring, recording, and recordkeeping requirements will be implemented to track compliance.

5. Conditional allowances will be allocated to the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy in order to assist the department for the abatement and control of air pollution, specifically CO₂.

6. In conjunction with program monitoring and review, impacts specific to Virginia will be evaluated, including economic, energy, and environmental impacts and impacts on vulnerable and environmental justice communities.

Issues: The primary advantage to the public would be health and welfare benefits associated with controlling carbon pollution. The program is designed to avoid any significant economic impacts. There are no disadvantages to the public or the Commonwealth. No significant advantages or disadvantages to the department have been identified. There may be a minor impact in terms of administering a new program.

Department of Planning and Budget's Economic Impact Analysis:

Summary of the Proposed Amendments to Regulation. The Air Pollution Control Board (Board) proposes to establish the CO₂ Budget Trading Program in regulation. The original proposed regulatory language for the CO₂ Budget Trading Program was published in the Virginia Register of Regulations on January 18, 2018.¹ An economic impact analysis of that proposal was published in the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall on December 13, 2017.² The Board has submitted a revised proposal.³ This report addresses changes from the original proposal. For more detail on the impact of the program see the economic impact analysis of the original proposal.

Estimated Economic Impact.

Lower CO₂ Allowances: Under the revised proposal the initial (year 2020) Virginia base budget of CO₂ emission allowances is 28 million tons rather than the 33 (or 34) million tons under the original proposal. In both proposals the base budget is reduced by 3% each year up until 2030. According to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), this is because new information acquired over the past year reduced the forecast for CO₂ emitted by Virginia sources in 2020 to 28 million tons and further for subsequent years. Lower expected demand for electricity, reduced expected prices for lower-emitting natural gas, and renewable energy production from wind and solar coming online faster than previously expected all contribute to the change.

All states within the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI),⁴ as well as Virginia, have reported significant reductions in forecasted demand for electricity. As pointed out by DEQ, Virginia's reduction in forecasted demand is partially due to energy efficiency provisions within Chapter 296 of the 2018 Acts of Assembly.⁵

Also, over the past year, the federal Energy Information Administration⁶ has lowered their forecasts for future natural gas prices considerably. This provides for a reduced cost for switching to natural gas from higher CO₂-emitting sources than was anticipated when the initial proposal was developed.

Provisions of Chapter 296 also encourage wind and solar energy production. This, coupled with faster than expected development of this type of energy production that has already occurred, provides the potential for renewable energy available for lower cost than anticipated before. As with natural gas, this provides a lower cost than previously anticipated for switching to energy production with much lower CO₂ emission.

Impact: Electricity Consumers. A consulting firm called ICF models the RGGI CO₂ Budget Trading Program. ICF modelled the impact of Virginia joining RGGI under the parameters included in the original proposal and the revised proposal. Among other outputs, the ICF model produces projected power prices in each state. A different firm called the Analysis Group uses the results of ICF's modelling to estimate the impact on monthly electricity bills for Virginia residential, commercial, and industrial consumers. DEQ has the results of their modelling and analysis on their website.⁷

DEQ believes that for Virginia the "revenue received by CO₂ Budget Sources owned by regulated electric utilities flow to rate payers pursuant to State Corporation Commission (SCC) requirements."⁸ While not described in the proposed regulation, this action is predicated upon anticipated actions of the SCC, which it may or may not take. Pursuant to DEQ's instructions, the Analysis Group does assume for the purpose of their estimates that all revenue from the sale of CO₂ emission allowances that were allocated to Virginia sources is passed on to consumers. The ICF model does not account for this information.

The table below compares the estimated average monthly electricity bills for Virginia residential, commercial, and industrial consumers over the 2020 to 2030 period with the Commonwealth not establishing the CO₂ Budget Trading Program in regulation and joining RGGI (Reference) to if Virginia does promulgate the revised proposed regulation and joins RGGI (Policy).

As can be seen, the model results provided by DEQ projects that electricity bills will be lower with the Commonwealth establishing the CO₂ Budget Trading Program in regulation and joining RGGI.

Running ICF's model with the new projections and revised parameters produces firm power prices in Virginia moderately higher under Policy versus Reference. For example, running the model indicates Virginia firm power prices of $34.90 per megawatt hour in 2025 under Policy, and $34.50 under Reference. The projected revenue from the sale of CO₂ emission allowances (that is passed on to consumers by assumption) is large enough that it outweighs this difference and results in estimated net lower electricity bills to consumers.

Year 2031 to Year 2040: The original proposal had the base budget for 2031 and each succeeding year equal to the 2031 base budget. The revised proposal states that:

"the department [DEQ] will review the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget and recommend to the board appropriate adjustments in the base budget for such succeeding years. The department will consider the best available science and all relevant information and policies available from any CO₂ multi-state trading program in which Virginia is participating when considering further reductions. Absent any adjustment, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget for each year of the decade 2031-2040 shall be reduced by 840,000 tons from the preceding year."

If no action is taken in the next 12 years, this change in the proposal would result in a base budget of 11.2 million tons by 2040. It seems likely that DEQ and the Board would choose to adjust the base budget differently as conditions change over time. Based on future events, technical advances, and actual emissions in practice, a different level (either higher or lower) would likely be more appropriate.

Program Monitoring and Review: In the revised proposal the Board proposes to add that DEQ must:

"evaluate impacts of the program specific to Virginia, including, but not limited to economic, energy and environmental impacts, and impacts on vulnerable and environmental justice and underserved communities. The department will, in evaluating the impacts on environmental justice communities, including low income, minority and tribal communities, develop and implement a plan to ensure increased participation of environmental justice communities in the review."

DEQ believes that this is consistent with current program review requirements and that the agency would evaluate the impacts of the program whether through RGGI program review, normal periodic review, or reviews mandated by Governor Northam's Executive Order Six (EO-6).⁹ Thus, this revised proposal addition would not likely significantly add to required DEQ staff time or other costs but may be beneficial in specifying to the public which information and efforts would be pursued.

Clarifications: In response to comments and questions, the revised proposal includes several clarifying changes from the original proposal, particularly concerning exemptions. These proposed changes are beneficial in improving clarity but otherwise have no effect.

Businesses and Entities Affected. The proposed changes from the original proposal particularly affect the 12 companies that operate the 32 electric power facilities with a capacity of greater than 25 MW in the Commonwealth. All entities that use electricity, including industrial and commercial firms, farms, residences, government offices, schools and colleges, etc., are affected as well. All entities and people in Virginia would also likely experience the impact of environmental improvement.

Localities Particularly Affected. The proposal to require the development and implementation of a plan to ensure increased participation of environmental justice communities would particularly affect the localities that contain those communities.

Projected Impact on Employment. Based on the new information over the past year, such as lower expected demand for electricity, reduced expected prices for lower-emitting natural gas, and renewable energy production from wind and solar coming online faster than previously expected, keeping the base budget at the levels in the original proposal would likely result in nonbinding CO₂ emission caps. In other words, the originally proposed regulation would have very little or no impact on CO₂ emissions.

In contrast, based upon the projections discussed in this report, the revised proposed base budget levels would likely be binding and affect firms' choices in type of power production and CO₂ emissions. The proposed reduction in allowed emissions of CO₂ over time may reduce employment associated with electricity production that is high in CO₂ emission such as coal and may increase employment in electricity production that is lower in CO₂ emission, such as natural gas, and very low in emissions such as wind and solar.

Effects on the Use and Value of Private Property. As discussed above, based upon the projections discussed in this report, the revised proposed base budget levels would likely be binding, and promulgation of this regulation would likely result in reduced CO₂ emissions. It is difficult to estimate the effects of the proposed regulation on the value of property. To the extent that the proposed amendments decrease flooding risk, and thus limit loss of use, the value of private property near bodies of water and other low-lying properties could become more valuable, or they could decline since it could cause the inventory of usable land to increase. Further, land values could increase in some areas as the demand for solar farms increases.

Real Estate Development Costs. The revised proposed amendments do not appear to significantly affect real estate development costs.

Small Businesses:

Definition. Pursuant to § 2.2-4007.04 of the Code of Virginia, small business is defined as "a business entity, including its affiliates, that (i) is independently owned and operated and (ii) employs fewer than 500 full-time employees or has gross annual sales of less than $6 million."

Costs and Other Effects. Based upon the assumptions used for the consulting firms' modeling and analysis, electricity costs for small businesses would moderately decrease.

Alternative Method that Minimizes Adverse Impact. If the assumption that all revenue from the sale of CO₂ emission allowances that were allocated to Virginia sources is passed on to consumers is accurate, then based upon that and the other assumptions used for the consulting firms' modeling and analysis there would be no adverse impact on small businesses.

Adverse Impacts:

Businesses. The revised proposed reductions in base budget levels would increase electricity production costs for at least some electric power producing firms.

Localities. Based upon the assumptions used for the consulting firms' modeling and analysis, the proposed changes from the original proposal would not likely have adverse impacts for localities.

Other Entities. Based upon the assumptions used for the consulting firms' modeling and analysis, the proposed changes from the original proposal would not likely have adverse impacts for other entities.

_____________________________

¹See "9VAC5-140. Regulation for Emissions Trading Programs (Proposed)" at http://register.dls.virginia.gov/vol34/iss10/v34i10.pdf

²See http://townhall.virginia.gov/l/GetFile.cfm?File=1\4818\8130\EIA_DEQ_8130_v2.pdf

³See http://townhall.virginia.gov/L/ViewStage.cfm?stageid=8476

⁴RGGI is a cooperative effort among the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont to cap and reduce power sector CO₂ emissions. RGGI is composed of individual CO₂ Budget Trading Programs in each participating state. Through independent regulations, each state's CO₂ Budget Trading Program limits emissions of CO₂ from electric power plants, issues CO₂ allowances and establishes participation in regional CO₂ allowance auctions. Regulated power plants can use a CO₂ allowance issued by any participating state to demonstrate compliance with an individual state program. In this manner, the state programs, in aggregate, function as a single regional compliance market for CO₂ emissions.

⁵See http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+CHAP0296

⁶See https://www.eia.gov/analysis/

⁷See https://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Air/GreenhouseGasPlan.aspx

⁸DEQ November 16, 2017 presentation before the Board, p. 24:

http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Portals/0/DEQ/Air/GHG/C17-pro.pdf?ver=2017-11-20-153710-670

DEQ December 4, 2017 presentation to the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation, p. 15.

http://leg5.state.va.us/User_db/frmView.aspx?ViewId=5094&s=7

⁹See https://www.governor.virginia.gov/media/governorvirginiagov/executive-actions/eo-6-executive-order-supporting-the-critical-role-of-the-virginia-department-of-environmental-quality-in-protection-of-virginia-s-air-water-and-public-health.pdf

Agency's Response to Economic Impact Analysis: The board has reviewed the economic impact analysis prepared by the Department of Planning and Budget and has no comment.

Summary:

The State Air Pollution Control Board adopted a proposed regulation to establish the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program. The regulation, as originally proposed, included provisions to (i) implement a declining cap on carbon emissions and establish an allowance that will be issued for each ton of carbon emitted by an electricity generating facility, which can then decide whether to reduce carbon emissions and sell the resulting additional allowances or not reduce carbon emissions and make up the difference with purchased allowances; (ii) establish a consignment auction as the mechanism for determining the cost of allowances; (iii) provide that a cost containment reserve allowance will be offered for sale at an auction for the purpose of containing the cost of CO₂ allowances in the event of higher than anticipated emission reduction costs and that an emission containment reserve allowance will be withheld from sale at an auction for the purpose of additional emission reduction in the event of lower than anticipated emission reduction costs; (iv) implement monitoring, recording, and recordkeeping requirements; and (v) allocate conditional allowances to the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy.

Since publication of the proposed regulation in 34:10 VA.R. 924-959 January 8, 2018, the board made certain revisions to the original proposal, which included two options on the base budget of 33 and 34 million tons. The board approved a new base budget of 28 million tons based on new modeling and other information. The new base budget of 28 million tons will determine, based on a 3.0% annual reduction, the annual budgets and allocations for future years. These requirements apply to fossil fuel-fired electric generating facilities.

Other substantive changes in the reproposed action include (i) the recognition of offsets from other participating states, (ii) exemption of fossil fuel units that co-fire with biomass from CO₂ accounting, (iii) a more detailed description of exempt industrial sources, (iv) a more detailed description of how the cost containment reserve will be managed, (v) a new section allowing for participation in a nonconsignment auction, and (vi) a new section requiring program monitoring and review. The reproposed action reflects the latest version of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative model rule. 

Part VII
CO₂ Budget Trading Program

Article 1
CO₂ Budget Trading Program General Provisions

9VAC5-140-6010. Purpose.

This part establishes the Virginia component of the CO₂ Budget Trading Program, which is designed to reduce anthropogenic emissions of CO₂, a greenhouse gas, from CO₂ budget sources in [ an economically efficient manner a manner that is protective of human health and the environment and is economically efficient ].

9VAC5-140-6020. Definitions.

A. As used in this part, all words or terms not defined here shall have the meanings given them in 9VAC5-10 (General Definitions), unless otherwise required by the context.

B. For the purpose of this part and any related use, the words or terms shall have the meanings given them in this section.

C. Terms defined.

"Account number" means the identification number given by the department or its agent to each COATS account.

"Acid rain emission limitation" means, as defined in 40 CFR 72.2, a limitation on emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) or nitrogen oxides (NO_X) under the Acid Rain Program under Title IV of the CAA.

"Acid Rain Program" means a multistate SO₂ and NO_X air pollution control and emission reduction program established by the administrator under Title IV of the CAA and 40 CFR Parts 72 through 78.

"Adjustment for banked allowances" means an adjustment applied to the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget for allocation years 2021 through 2025 to address allowances held in general and compliance accounts, including compliance accounts established pursuant to the CO₂ Budget Trading Program, but not including accounts opened by participating states, that are in addition to the aggregate quantity of emissions from all CO₂ budget sources in all of the participating states at the end of the control period in 2020 and as reflected in the CO₂ Allowance Tracking System on March 17, 2021.

"Administrator" means the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the administrator's authorized representative.

"Allocate" or "allocation" means the determination by the department of the number of CO₂ conditional allowances allocated to a CO₂ budget unit or [ to ] the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) [ pursuant to 9VAC5-140-6211 ].

"Allocation year" means a calendar year for which the department allocates CO₂ conditional allowances pursuant to Article 5 (9VAC5-140-6190 et seq.) of this part. The allocation year of each CO₂ conditional allowance is reflected in the unique identification number given to the allowance pursuant to 9VAC5-140-6250 C.

[ "Allowance" means an allowance up to one ton of CO₂ purchased from the consignment auction in accordance with Article 9 (9VAC5-140-6410 et seq.) of this part and that may be deposited in the compliance account of a CO₂ budget source. ]

"Allowance auction" or "auction" means an auction in which the department or its agent offers CO₂ allowances for sale.

[ "Alternate CO₂ authorized account representative" means, for a CO₂ budget source and each CO₂ budget unit at the source, the alternate natural person who is authorized by the owners and operators of the source and all CO₂ budget units at the source, in accordance with Article 2 (9VAC5-140-6080 et seq.) of this part, to represent and legally bind each owner and operator in matters pertaining to the CO₂ Budget Trading Program or, for a general account, the alternate natural person who is authorized, under Article 6 (9VAC5-140-6220 et seq.) of this part, to transfer or otherwise dispose of CO₂ allowances held in the general account. If the CO₂ budget source is also subject to the Acid Rain Program, CSAPR NO_X Annual Trading Program, CSAPR NO_X Ozone Season Trading Program, CSAPR SO₂ Group 1 Trading Program, or CSAPR SO₂ Group 2 Trading Program then, for a CO₂ Budget Trading Program compliance account, this alternate natural person shall be the same person as the alternate designated representative as defined in the respective program. ]

"Attribute" means a characteristic associated with electricity generated using a particular renewable fuel, such as its generation date, facility geographic location, unit vintage, emissions output, fuel, state program eligibility, or other characteristic that can be identified, accounted for, and tracked.

"Attribute credit" means a credit that represents the attributes related to one megawatt-hour of electricity generation.

"Automated Data Acquisition and Handling System" or "DAHS" means that component of the Continuous Emissions Monitoring System (CEMS), or other emissions monitoring system approved for use under Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part, designed to interpret and convert individual output signals from pollutant concentration monitors, flow monitors, diluent gas monitors, and other component parts of the monitoring system to produce a continuous record of the measured parameters in the measurement units required by Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part.

"Billing meter" means a measurement device used to measure electric or thermal output for commercial billing under a contract. The facility selling the electric or thermal output shall have different owners from the owners of the party purchasing the electric or thermal output.

"Boiler" means an enclosed fossil or other fuel-fired combustion device used to produce heat and to transfer heat to recirculating water, steam, or other medium.

[ "CO₂ allowance" means a limited authorization by the department or another participating state under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program to emit up to one ton of CO₂, subject to all applicable limitations contained in this part. CO₂ offset allowances generated by other participating states will be recognized by the department. ]

"CO₂ allowance deduction" or "deduct CO₂ allowances" means the permanent withdrawal of CO₂ allowances by the department or its agent from a COATS compliance account to account for the number of tons of CO₂ emitted from a CO₂ budget source for a control period or an interim control period, determined in accordance with Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part, or for the forfeit or retirement of CO₂ allowances as provided by this part.

"CO₂ Allowance Tracking System" or "COATS" means the system by which the department or its agent records allocations, deductions, and transfers of CO₂ allowances under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program. The tracking system may also be used to track CO₂ allowance prices and emissions from affected sources.

"CO₂ Allowance Tracking System account" means an account in COATS established by the department or its agent for purposes of recording the allocation, holding, transferring, or deducting of CO₂ allowances.

"CO₂ allowance transfer deadline" means midnight of March 1 occurring after the end of the relevant control period and each relevant interim control period or, if that March 1 is not a business day, midnight of the first business day thereafter and is the deadline by which CO₂ allowances shall be submitted for recordation in a CO₂ budget source's compliance account for the source to meet the CO₂ requirements of 9VAC5-140-6050 C for the control period and each interim control period immediately preceding such deadline.

"CO₂ allowances held" or "hold CO₂ allowances" means the CO₂ allowances recorded by the department or its agent, or submitted to the department or its agent for recordation, in accordance with Article 6 (9VAC5-140-6220 et seq.) and Article 7 (9VAC5-140-6300 et seq.) of this part, in a COATS account.

"CO₂ authorized account representative" means, for a CO₂ budget source and each CO₂ budget unit at the source, the natural person who is authorized by the owners and operators of the source and all CO₂ budget units at the source, in accordance with Article 2 (9VAC5-140-6080 et seq.) of this part, to represent and legally bind each owner and operator in matters pertaining to the CO₂ Budget Trading Program or, for a general account, the natural person who is authorized, under Article 6 (9VAC5-140-6220 et seq.) of this part, to transfer or otherwise dispose of CO₂ allowances held in the general account. If the CO₂ budget source is also subject to the Acid Rain Program, CSAPR NO_X Annual Trading Program, CSAPR NO_X Ozone Season Trading Program, CSAPR SO₂ Group 1 Trading Program, or CSAPR SO₂ Group 2 Trading Program, then for a CO₂ Budget Trading Program compliance account, this natural person shall be the same person as the designated representative as defined in the respective program.

[ "CO₂ authorized alternate account representative" means, for a CO₂ budget source and each CO₂ budget unit at the source, the alternate natural person who is authorized by the owners and operators of the source and all CO₂ budget units at the source, in accordance with Article 2 (9VAC5-140-6080 et seq.) of this part, to represent and legally bind each owner and operator in matters pertaining to the CO₂ Budget Trading Program or, for a general account, the alternate natural person who is authorized, under Article 6 (9VAC5-140-6220 et seq.) of this part, to transfer or otherwise dispose of CO₂ allowances held in the general account. If the CO₂ budget source is also subject to the Acid Rain Program, CSAPR NO_X Annual Trading Program, CSAPR NO_X Ozone Season Trading Program, CSAPR SO₂ Group 1 Trading Program, or CSAPR SO₂ Group 2 Trading Program then, for a CO₂ Budget Trading Program compliance account, this alternate natural person shall be the same person as the alternate designated representative as defined in the respective program. ]

"CO₂ budget emissions limitation" means, for a CO₂ budget source, the tonnage equivalent, in CO₂ emissions in a control period or an interim control period, of the CO₂ allowances available for compliance deduction for the source for a control period or an interim control period.

"CO₂ budget permit" means the portion of the legally binding permit issued by the department pursuant to 9VAC5-85 (Permits for Stationary Sources of Pollutants Subject to Regulation) to a CO₂ budget source or CO₂ budget unit that specifies the CO₂ Budget Trading Program requirements applicable to the CO₂ budget source, to each CO₂ budget unit at the CO₂ budget source, and to the owners and operators and the CO₂ authorized account representative of the CO₂ budget source and each CO₂ budget unit.

"CO₂ budget source" means a source that includes one or more CO₂ budget units.

"CO₂ Budget Trading Program" means [ the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), ] a multistate CO₂ air pollution control and emissions reduction program [ established according to this part and corresponding regulations in other states ] as a means of reducing emissions of CO₂ from CO₂ budget sources.

"CO₂ budget unit" means a unit that is subject to the CO₂ Budget Trading Program requirements under 9VAC5-140-6040.

"CO₂ cost containment reserve allowance" or "CO₂ CCR allowance" means a [ conditional ] CO₂ allowance that is offered for sale at an auction for the purpose of containing the cost of CO₂ allowances. CO₂ CCR allowances offered for sale at an auction are separate from and additional to CO₂ allowances allocated from the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base and adjusted budgets. CO₂ CCR allowances are subject to all applicable limitations contained in this part.

"CO₂ cost containment reserve trigger price" or "CCR trigger price" means the minimum price at which CO₂ CCR allowances are offered for sale at an auction. [ Beginning in 2020 and each calendar year thereafter, the CCR trigger price shall be 1.025 multiplied by the CCR trigger price from the previous calendar year, rounded to the nearest whole cent. The CCR trigger price in calendar year 2020 shall be $10.77. ] The CCR trigger price in calendar year 2021 shall be $13. Each calendar year thereafter, the CCR trigger price shall be 1.07 multiplied by the CCR trigger price from the previous calendar year, rounded to the nearest whole cent, as shown in Table 140-1A.

"CO₂ emission containment reserve allowance" or "CO₂ ECR allowance" means a CO₂ allowance that is withheld from sale at an auction by the department for the purpose of additional emission reduction in the event of lower than anticipated emission reduction costs.

"CO₂ emission containment reserve trigger price" or "ECR trigger price" means the price below which CO₂ allowances will be withheld from sale by the department or its agent at an auction. The ECR trigger price in calendar year 2021 shall be $6.00. Each calendar year thereafter, the ECR trigger price shall be 1.07 multiplied by the ECR trigger price from the previous calendar year, rounded to the nearest whole cent, as shown in Table 140-1B.

[ "CO₂ offset allowance" means a CO₂ allowance that is awarded to the sponsor of a CO₂ emissions offset project by a participating state and is subject to the relevant compliance deduction limitations of the participating state's corresponding offset regulations as a means of reducing CO₂ from CO₂ budget sources. ]

"Combined cycle system" means a system comprised of one or more combustion turbines, heat recovery steam generators, and steam turbines configured to improve overall efficiency of electricity generation or steam production.

"Combustion turbine" means an enclosed fossil or other fuel-fired device that is comprised of a compressor (if applicable), a combustor, and a turbine, and in which the flue gas resulting from the combustion of fuel in the combustor passes through the turbine, rotating the turbine.

"Commence commercial operation" means, with regard to a unit that serves a generator, to have begun to produce steam, gas, or other heated medium used to generate electricity for sale or use, including test generation. For a unit that is a CO₂ budget unit under 9VAC5-140-6040 on the date the unit commences commercial operation, such date shall remain the unit's date of commencement of commercial operation even if the unit is subsequently modified, reconstructed, or repowered. For a unit that is not a CO₂ budget unit under 9VAC5-140-6040 on the date the unit commences commercial operation, the date the unit becomes a CO₂ budget unit under 9VAC5-140-6040 shall be the unit's date of commencement of commercial operation.

"Commence operation" means to begin any mechanical, chemical, or electronic process, including, with regard to a unit, start-up of a unit's combustion chamber. For a unit that is a CO₂ budget unit under 9VAC5-140-6040 on the date of commencement of operation, such date shall remain the unit's date of commencement of operation even if the unit is subsequently modified, reconstructed, or repowered. For a unit that is not a CO₂ budget unit under 9VAC5-140-6040 on the date of commencement of operation, the date the unit becomes a CO₂ budget unit under 9VAC5-140-6040 shall be the unit's date of commencement of operation.

"Compliance account" means a COATS account, established by the department or its agent for a CO₂ budget source under Article 6 (9VAC5-140-6220 et seq.) of this part, in which are held CO₂ allowances available for use by the source for a control period and each interim control period for the purpose of meeting the CO₂ requirements of 9VAC5-140-6050 C.

"Conditional allowance" means an allowance allocated by the department to CO₂ budget sources [ and or ] to DMME. Such conditional allowance shall be consigned by the entity to whom it is allocated to the consignment auction as specified under Article 9 (9VAC5-140-6410 et seq.) of this part, after which the conditional allowance becomes [ an allowance to be used for compliance purposes. a CO₂ allowance once it is sold to an auction participant. A conditional allowance may also be contained in the CCR and may be auctioned. ]

[ "Conditional CCR allowance" means a CCR allowance that may be offered for sale when the CCR is triggered. If any CCR allowances are unsold, they shall be returned to the CCR account and may be offered for sale in future auctions during the same year. ]

"Consignment auction" or "auction" means the CO₂ auction conducted on a quarterly basis by[ RGGI, Inc. the CO₂ Budget Trading Program ], in which CO₂ budget sources and DMME are allocated a share of allowances by the department that CO₂ budget sources and the holder of a public contract with DMME consign into the auction, and auction revenue is returned to CO₂ budget sources and the holder of a public contract with DMME in accordance with procedures established by the department.

"Continuous Emissions Monitoring System" or "CEMS" means the equipment required under Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part to sample, analyze, measure, and provide, by means of readings recorded at least once every 15 minutes (using an automated DAHS), a permanent record of stack gas volumetric flow rate, stack gas moisture content, and oxygen or carbon dioxide concentration (as applicable), in a manner consistent with 40 CFR Part 75 and Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part. The following systems are types of CEMS required under Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part:

a. A flow monitoring system, consisting of a stack flow rate monitor and an automated DAHS and providing a permanent, continuous record of stack gas volumetric flow rate, in standard cubic feet per hour [ (scf) ];

b. A NO_X emissions rate (or NO_X-diluent) monitoring system, consisting of a NO_X pollutant concentration monitor, a diluent gas (CO₂ or O₂) monitor, and an automated DAHS and providing a permanent, continuous record of NO_X concentration, in parts per million (ppm), diluent gas concentration, in percent CO₂ or O₂, and NO_X emissions rate, in pounds per million British thermal units (lb/MMBtu);

c. A moisture monitoring system, as defined in 40 CFR 75.11(b)(2) and providing a permanent, continuous record of the stack gas moisture content, in percent H₂O;

d. A CO₂ monitoring system, consisting of a CO₂ pollutant concentration monitor (or an O₂ monitor plus suitable mathematical equations from which the CO₂ concentration is derived) and an automated DAHS and providing a permanent, continuous record of CO₂ emissions, in percent CO₂; and

e. An O₂ monitoring system, consisting of an O₂ concentration monitor and an automated DAHS and providing a permanent, continuous record of O₂, in percent O₂.

"Control period" means a three-calendar-year time period. The first control period is from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2023, inclusive. Each subsequent compliance control period shall be a sequential three-calendar-year period. The first two compliance years of each control period are each defined as an interim control period, beginning on January 1, 2022.

"Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) NO_X Annual Trading Program" means a multistate NO_X air pollution control and emission reduction program established in accordance with Subpart AAAAA of 40 CFR Part 97 and 40 CFR 52.38(a), including such a program that is revised in a SIP revision approved by the administrator under 40 CFR 52.38(a)(3) or (4) or that is established in a SIP revision approved by the administrator under 40 CFR 52.38(a)(5), as a means of mitigating interstate transport of fine particulates and NO_X.

"Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) NO_X Ozone Season Trading Program" means a multistate NO_X air pollution control and emission reduction program established in accordance with Subpart BBBBB of 40 CFR Part 97 and 40 CFR 52.38(b), including such a program that is revised in a SIP revision approved by the administrator under 40 CFR 52.38(b)(3) or (4) or that is established in a SIP revision approved by the administrator under 40 CFR 52.38(b)(5), as a means of mitigating interstate transport of ozone and NO_X.

"Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) SO₂ Group 1 Trading Program" means a multistate SO₂ air pollution control and emission reduction program established in accordance with Subpart CCCCC of 40 CFR Part 97 and 40 CFR 52.39(a), (b), (d) through (f), (j), and (k), including such a program that is revised in a SIP revision approved by the administrator under 40 CFR 52.39(d) or (e) or that is established in a SIP revision approved by the administrator under 40 CFR 52.39(f), as a means of mitigating interstate transport of fine particulates and SO₂.

"Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) SO₂ Group 2 Trading Program" means a multistate SO₂ air pollution control and emission reduction program established in accordance with Subpart DDDDD of 40 CFR Part 97 and 40 CFR 52.39(a), (c), and (g) through (k), including such a program that is revised in a SIP revision approved by the administrator under 40 CFR 52.39(g) or (h) or that is established in a SIP revision approved by the administrator under 40 CFR 52.39(i), as a means of mitigating interstate transport of fine particulates and SO₂.

"Department" means the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

"DMME" means the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy.

"Excess emissions" means any tonnage of CO₂ emitted by a CO₂ budget source during a control period that exceeds the CO₂ budget emissions limitation for the source.

"Excess interim emissions" means any tonnage of CO₂ emitted by a CO₂ budget source during an interim control period multiplied by 0.50 that exceeds the CO₂ budget emissions limitation for the source.

"Fossil fuel" means natural gas, petroleum, coal, or any form of solid, liquid, or gaseous fuel derived from such material.

"Fossil fuel-fired" means the combustion of fossil fuel, alone or in combination with any other fuel, where the fossil fuel combusted comprises, or is projected to comprise, more than [ 10% 5.0% ] of the annual heat input on a Btu basis during any year.

"General account" means a COATS account, established under Article 6 (9VAC5-140-6220 et seq.) of this part that is not a compliance account.

"Gross generation" means the electrical output in MWe at the terminals of the generator.

"Initial control period" means the period beginning January 1, 2020, and ending December 31, 2020.

"Interim control period" means a one-calendar-year time period, during each of the first and second calendar years of each three-year control period. The first interim control period starts January 1, 2021, and ends December 31, 2021, inclusive. The second interim control period starts January 1, 2022, and ends December 31, 2022, inclusive. Each successive three-year control period will have two interim control periods, comprised of each of the first two calendar years of that control period.

"Life-of-the-unit contractual arrangement" means a unit participation power sales agreement under which a customer reserves, or is entitled to receive, a specified amount or percentage of nameplate capacity or associated energy from any specified unit pursuant to a contract:

a. For the life of the unit;

b. For a cumulative term of no less than 30 years, including contracts that permit an election for early termination; or

c. For a period equal to or greater than 25 years or 70% of the economic useful life of the unit determined as of the time the unit is built, with option rights to purchase or release some portion of the nameplate capacity and associated energy generated by the unit at the end of the period.

[ "Maximum design heat input" means the ability of a unit to combust a stated maximum amount of fuel per hour on a steady state basis, as determined by the physical design and physical characteristics of the unit. ]

"Maximum potential hourly heat input" means an hourly heat input used for reporting purposes when a unit lacks certified monitors to report heat input. If the unit intends to use Appendix D of 40 CFR Part 75 to report heat input, this value shall be calculated, in accordance with 40 CFR Part 75, using the maximum fuel flow rate and the maximum gross calorific value. If the unit intends to use a flow monitor and a diluent gas monitor, this value shall be reported, in accordance with 40 CFR Part 75, using the maximum potential flow rate and either the maximum CO₂ concentration in percent CO₂ or the minimum O₂ concentration in percent O₂.

"Minimum reserve price" means, in calendar year 2020, [ $2.00 $2.32 ]. Each calendar year thereafter, the minimum reserve price shall be 1.025 multiplied by the minimum reserve price from the previous calendar year, rounded to the nearest whole cent.

"Monitoring system" means any monitoring system that meets the requirements of Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part, including a CEMS, an excepted monitoring system, or an alternative monitoring system.

"Nameplate capacity" means the maximum electrical output in MWe that a generator can sustain over a specified period of time when not restricted by seasonal or other deratings as measured in accordance with the U.S. Department of Energy standards.

"Net-electric output" means the amount of gross generation in MWh the generators produce, including output from steam turbines, combustion turbines, and gas expanders, as measured at the generator terminals, less the electricity used to operate the plant (i.e., auxiliary loads); such uses include fuel handling equipment, pumps, fans, pollution control equipment, other electricity needs, and transformer losses as measured at the transmission side of the step up transformer (e.g., the point of sale).

"Non-CO₂ budget unit" means a unit that does not meet the applicability criteria of 9VAC5-140-6040.

"Operator" means any person who operates, controls, or supervises a CO₂ budget unit or a CO₂ budget source and shall include any holding company, utility system, or plant manager of such a unit or source.

"Owner" means any of the following persons:

a. Any holder of any portion of the legal or equitable title in a CO₂ budget unit;

b. Any holder of a leasehold interest in a CO₂ budget unit, other than a passive lessor, or a person who has an equitable interest through such lessor, whose rental payments are not based, either directly or indirectly, upon the revenues or income from the CO₂ budget unit;

c. Any purchaser of power from a CO₂ budget unit under a life-of-the-unit contractual arrangement in which the purchaser controls the dispatch of the unit; or

d. With respect to any general account, any person who has an ownership interest with respect to the CO₂ allowances held in the general account and who is subject to the binding agreement for the CO₂ authorized account representative to represent that person's ownership interest with respect to the CO₂ allowances.

"Participating state" means a state that [ has established a corresponding regulation as part of participates in ] the CO₂ Budget Trading Program.

"Receive" or "receipt of" means, [ with regard to CO₂ allowances, the movement of CO₂ allowances by the department or its agent from one COATS account to another, for purposes of allocation, transfer, or deduction when referring to the department or its agent, to come into possession of a document, information, or correspondence (whether sent in writing or by authorized electronic transmission) as indicated in an official correspondence log, or by a notation made on the document, information, or correspondence by the department or its agent in the regular course of business ].

"Recordation," "record," or "recorded" means, with regard to CO₂ allowances, the movement of CO₂ allowances by the department or its agent from one COATS account to another, for purposes of allocation, transfer, or deduction.

[ "RGGI, Inc." means the 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation created to support development and implementation of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Participating RGGI states use RGGI, Inc., as their agent to conduct the consignment auction and to operate and manage COATS. ]

"Reserve price" means the minimum acceptable price for each CO₂ allowance in a specific auction. The reserve price at an auction is either the minimum reserve price or the CCR trigger price, as specified in Article 9 (9VAC5-140-6410 et seq.) of this part.

"Serial number" means, when referring to CO₂ allowances, the unique identification number assigned to each CO₂ allowance by the department or its agent under 9VAC5-140-6250 C.

"Source" means any governmental, institutional, commercial, or industrial structure, installation, plant, building, or facility that emits or has the potential to emit any air pollutant. A source, including a source with multiple units, shall be considered a single facility.

[ "State" means the Commonwealth of Virginia. The term "state" shall have its conventional meaning where such meaning is clear from the context. ]

"Submit" or "serve" means to send or transmit a document, information, or correspondence to the person specified in accordance with the applicable regulation:

a. In person;

b. By [ U.S. United States ] Postal Service; or

c. By other means of dispatch or transmission and delivery.

Compliance with any "submission," "service," or "mailing" deadline shall be determined by the date of dispatch, transmission, or mailing and not the date of receipt.

"Ton" or "tonnage" means any short ton, or 2,000 pounds. For the purpose of determining compliance with the CO₂ requirements of 9VAC5-140-6050 C, total tons for a control period shall be calculated as the sum of all recorded hourly emissions, or the tonnage equivalent of the recorded hourly emissions rates, in accordance with Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part, with any remaining fraction of a ton equal to or greater than 0.50 ton deemed to equal one ton and any fraction of a ton less than 0.50 ton deemed to equal zero tons. A short ton is equal to 0.9072 metric tons.

[ "Total useful energy" means the sum of gross electrical generation and useful net thermal energy. ]

"Undistributed CO₂ allowances" means CO₂ allowances originally allocated to a set aside account as pursuant to 9VAC5-140-6210 that were not distributed.

"Unit" means a fossil fuel-fired stationary boiler, combustion turbine, or combined cycle system.

"Unit operating day" means a calendar day in which a unit combusts any fuel.

"Unsold CO₂ allowances" means CO₂ allowances that have been made available for sale in an auction conducted by the department or its agent, but not sold.

[ "Useful net thermal energy" means energy:

1. In the form of direct heat, steam, hot water, or other thermal form that is used in the production and beneficial measures for heating, cooling, humidity control, process use, or other thermal end use energy requirements, excluding thermal energy used in the power production process (e.g., house loads and parasitic loads); and

2. For which fuel or electricity would otherwise be consumed. ]

"Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program adjusted budget" means an adjusted budget determined in accordance with 9VAC5-140-6210 and is the annual amount of CO₂ tons available in Virginia for allocation in a given allocation year, in accordance with the CO₂ Budget Trading Program. CO₂ CCR allowances offered for sale at an auction are separate from and additional to CO₂ allowances allocated from the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program adjusted budget.

"Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget" means the budget specified in 9VAC5-140-6190. CO₂ CCR allowances offered for sale at an auction are separate from and additional to CO₂ allowances allocated from the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget.

9VAC5-140-6030. Measurements, abbreviations, and acronyms.

Measurements, abbreviations, and acronyms used in this part are defined as follows:

Btu - British thermal unit.

CAA - federal Clean Air Act.

CCR - cost containment reserve.

CEMS - Continuous Emissions Monitoring System.

COATS - CO₂ Allowance Tracking System.

CO₂ - carbon dioxide.

DAHS - Data Acquisition and Handling System.

[ EEM - efficiency measure. ]

H₂O - water.

lb - pound.

LME - low mass emissions.

MMBtu - million British thermal units.

MW - megawatt.

MWe - megawatt electrical.

MWh - megawatt hour.

NO_X - nitrogen oxides.

O₂ - oxygen.

ORIS - Office of Regulatory Information Systems.

QA/QC - quality assurance/quality control.

ppm - parts per million.

[ scf - standard cubic feet per hour. ]

SO₂ - sulfur dioxide.

9VAC5-140-6040. Applicability.

A. Any fossil fuel-fired unit that serves an electricity generator with a nameplate capacity equal to or greater than 25 MWe shall be a CO₂ budget unit, and any source that includes one or more such units shall be a CO₂ budget source, subject to the requirements of this part.

B. Exempt from the requirements of this part is any [ fossil fuel power generating unit owned by an individual facility and located at that individual facility that generates electricity and heat from fossil fuel for the primary use of operation of the facility CO₂ budget source located at or adjacent to and physically interconnected with a manufacturing facility that, prior to January 1, 2019, and in every subsequent calendar year, met either of the following requirements:

1. Supplies less than or equal to 10% of its annual net electrical generation to the electric grid; or

2. Supplies less than or equal to 15% of its annual total useful energy to any entity other than the manufacturing facility to which the CO₂ budget source is interconnected.

For the purpose of subdivision 1 of this subsection, annual net electrical generation shall be determined as follows:

(ES – EP) / EG x 100

Where:

ES = electricity sales to the grid from the CO₂ budget source

EP = electricity purchases from the grid by the CO₂ budget source and the manufacturing facility to which the CO₂ budget source is interconnected

EG = electricity generation

Such CO₂ budget source shall have an operating permit containing the applicable restrictions under this subsection ].

9VAC5-140-6050. Standard requirements.

A. Permit requirements shall be as follows.

1. The CO₂ authorized account representative of each CO₂ budget source required to have an operating permit pursuant to 9VAC5-85 (Permits for Stationary Sources of Pollutants Subject to Regulation) and each CO₂ budget unit required to have an operating permit pursuant to 9VAC5-85 shall:

a. Submit to the department a complete CO₂ budget permit application under 9VAC5-140-6160 in accordance with the deadlines specified in 9VAC5-140-6150; and

b. Submit in a timely manner any supplemental information that the department determines is necessary in order to review the CO₂ budget permit application and issue or deny a CO₂ budget permit.

2. The owners and operators of each CO₂ budget source required to have an operating permit pursuant to 9VAC5-85 (Permits for Stationary Sources of Pollutants Subject to Regulation) and each CO₂ budget unit required to have an operating permit pursuant to 9VAC5-85 for the source shall have a CO₂ budget permit and operate the CO₂ budget source and the CO₂ budget unit at the source in compliance with such CO₂ budget permit.

B. Monitoring requirements shall be as follows.

1. The owners and operators and, to the extent applicable, the CO₂ authorized account representative of each CO₂ budget source and each CO₂ budget unit at the source shall comply with the monitoring requirements of Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part.

2. The emissions measurements recorded and reported in accordance with Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part shall be used to determine compliance by the unit with the CO₂ requirements under subsection C of this section.

C. CO₂ requirements shall be as follows.

1. The owners and operators of each CO₂ budget source and each CO₂ budget unit at the source shall hold CO₂ allowances available for compliance deductions under 9VAC5-140-6260, as of the CO₂ allowance transfer deadline, in the source's compliance account in an amount not less than the total CO₂ emissions for the control period from all CO₂ budget units at the source, less the CO₂ allowances deducted to meet the requirements of subdivision 2 of this subsection, with respect to the previous two interim control periods as determined in accordance with Article 6 (9VAC5-140-6220 et seq.) and Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part.

2. The owners and operators of each CO₂ budget source and each CO₂ budget unit at the source shall hold CO₂ allowances available for compliance deductions under 9VAC5-140-6260, as of the CO₂ allowance transfer deadline, in the source's compliance account in an amount not less than the total CO₂ emissions for the interim control period from all CO₂ budget units at the source multiplied by 0.50, as determined in accordance with Article 6 (9VAC5-140-6220 et seq.) and Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part.

3. Each ton of CO₂ emitted in excess of the CO₂ budget emissions limitation for a control period shall constitute a separate violation of this part and applicable state law.

4. Each ton of excess interim emissions shall constitute a separate violation of this part and applicable state law.

5. A CO₂ budget unit shall be subject to the requirements under subdivision 1 of this subsection starting on the later of January 1, 2020, or the date on which the unit commences operation.

6. CO₂ allowances shall be held in, deducted from, or transferred among COATS accounts in accordance with Article 5 (9VAC5-140-6190 et seq.), Article 6 (9VAC5-140-6220 et seq.), and Article 7 (9VAC5-140-6300 et seq.) of this part.

7. A CO₂ allowance shall not be deducted, to comply with the requirements under subdivision 1 or 2 of this subsection, for a control period that ends prior to the year for which the CO₂ allowance was allocated.

8. A CO₂ allowance under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program is a limited authorization by the department to emit one ton of CO₂ in accordance with the CO₂ Budget Trading Program. No provision of the CO₂ Budget Trading Program, the CO₂ budget permit application, or the CO₂ budget permit or any provision of law shall be construed to limit the authority of the department or a participating state to terminate or limit such authorization.

9. A CO₂ allowance under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program does not constitute a property right.

D. The owners and operators of a CO₂ budget source that has excess emissions in any control period shall:

1. Forfeit the CO₂ allowances required for deduction under 9VAC5-140-6260 D 1; and

2. Pay any fine, penalty, or assessment or comply with any other remedy imposed under 9VAC5-140-6260 D 2.

E. Recordkeeping and reporting requirements shall be as follows:

1. Unless otherwise provided, the owners and operators of the CO₂ budget source and each CO₂ budget unit at the source shall keep on site at the source each of the following documents for a period of 10 years from the date the document is created. This period may be extended for cause, at any time prior to the end of 10 years, in writing by the department.

a. The account certificate of representation for the CO₂ authorized account representative for the source and each CO₂ budget unit at the source and all documents that demonstrate the truth of the statements in the account certificate of representation, in accordance with 9VAC5-140-6110, provided that the certificate and documents shall be retained on site at the source beyond such 10-year period until such documents are superseded because of the submission of a new account certificate of representation changing the CO₂ authorized account representative.

b. All emissions monitoring information, in accordance with Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part and 40 CFR 75.57.

c. Copies of all reports, compliance certifications, and other submissions and all records made or required under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program.

d. Copies of all documents used to complete a CO₂ budget permit application and any other submission under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program or to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of the CO₂ Budget Trading Program.

2. The CO₂ authorized account representative of a CO₂ budget source and each CO₂ budget unit at the source shall submit the reports and compliance certifications required under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program, including those under Article 4 (9VAC5-140-6170 et seq.) of this part.

F. Liability requirements shall be as follows.

1. No permit revision shall excuse any violation of the requirements of the CO₂ Budget Trading Program that occurs prior to the date that the revision takes effect.

2. Any provision of the CO₂ Budget Trading Program that applies to a CO₂ budget source, including a provision applicable to the CO₂ authorized account representative of a CO₂ budget source, shall also apply to the owners and operators of such source and of the CO₂ budget units at the source.

3. Any provision of the CO₂ Budget Trading Program that applies to a CO₂ budget unit, including a provision applicable to the CO₂ authorized account representative of a CO₂ budget unit, shall also apply to the owners and operators of such unit.

G. No provision of the CO₂ Budget Trading Program, a CO₂ budget permit application, or a CO₂ budget permit shall be construed as exempting or excluding the owners and operators and, to the extent applicable, the CO₂ authorized account representative of the CO₂ budget source or CO₂ budget unit from compliance with any other provisions of applicable state and federal law or regulations.

9VAC5-140-6060. Computation of time.

A. Unless otherwise stated, any time period scheduled, under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program, to begin on the occurrence of an act or event shall begin on the day the act or event occurs.

B. Unless otherwise stated, any time period scheduled, under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program, to begin before the occurrence of an act or event shall be computed so that the period ends the day before the act or event occurs.

C. Unless otherwise stated, if the final day of any time period, under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program, falls on a weekend or a state or federal holiday, the time period shall be extended to the next business day.

9VAC5-140-6070. Severability.

If any provision of this part, or its application to any particular person or circumstances, is held invalid, the remainder of this part, and the application thereof to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.

Article 2
CO₂ Authorized Account Representative for CO₂ Budget Sources

9VAC5-140-6080. Authorization and responsibilities of the CO₂ authorized account representative.

A. Except as provided under 9VAC5-140-6090, each CO₂ budget source, including all CO₂ budget units at the source, shall have one and only one CO₂ authorized account representative, with regard to all matters under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program concerning the source or any CO₂ budget unit at the source.

B. The CO₂ authorized account representative of the CO₂ budget source shall be selected by an agreement binding on the owners and operators of the source and all CO₂ budget units at the source and must act in accordance with the certificate of representation under 9VAC5-140-6110.

C. Upon receipt by the department or its agent of a complete account certificate of representation under 9VAC5-140-6110, the CO₂ authorized account representative of the source shall represent and, by his representations, actions, inactions, or submissions, legally bind each owner and operator of the CO₂ budget source represented and each CO₂ budget unit at the source in all matters pertaining to the CO₂ Budget Trading Program, notwithstanding any agreement between the CO₂ authorized account representative and such owners and operators. The owners and operators shall be bound by any decision or order issued to the CO₂ authorized account representative by the department or a court regarding the source or unit.

D. No CO₂ budget permit shall be issued, and no COATS account shall be established for a CO₂ budget source, until the department or its agent has received a complete account certificate of representation under 9VAC5-140-6110 for a CO₂ authorized account representative of the source and the CO₂ budget units at the source.

E. Each submission under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program shall be submitted, signed, and certified by the CO₂ authorized account representative for each CO₂ budget source on behalf of which the submission is made. Each such submission shall include the following certification statement by the CO₂ authorized account representative: "I am authorized to make this submission on behalf of the owners and operators of the CO₂ budget sources or CO₂ budget units for which the submission is made. I certify under penalty of law that I have personally examined, and am familiar with, the statements and information submitted in this document and all its attachments. Based on my inquiry of those individuals with primary responsibility for obtaining the information, I certify that the statements and information are to the best of my knowledge and belief true, accurate, and complete. I am aware that there are significant penalties for submitting false statements and information or omitting required statements and information, including the possibility of fine or imprisonment."

F. The department or its agent will accept or act on a submission made on behalf of owners or operators of a CO₂ budget source or a CO₂ budget unit only if the submission has been made, signed, and certified in accordance with subsection E of this section.

9VAC5-140-6090. [ Alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative.

A. An account certificate of representation may designate one and only one [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative who may act on behalf of the CO₂ authorized account representative. The agreement by which the [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative is selected shall include a procedure for authorizing the [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative to act in lieu of the CO₂ authorized account representative.

B. Upon receipt by the department or its agent of a complete account certificate of representation under 9VAC5-140-6110, any representation, action, inaction, or submission by the [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative shall be deemed to be a representation, action, inaction, or submission by the CO₂ authorized account representative.

C. Except in this section and 9VAC5-140-6080 A, 9VAC5-140-6100, 9VAC5-140-6110, and 9VAC5-140-6230, whenever the term "CO₂ authorized account representative" is used in this part, the term shall be construed to include the [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative.

9VAC5-140-6100. Changing the CO₂ authorized account representatives and the [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative; changes in the owners and operators.

A. The CO₂ authorized account representative may be changed at any time upon receipt by the department or its agent of a superseding complete account certificate of representation under 9VAC5-140-6110. Notwithstanding any such change, all representations, actions, inactions, and submissions by the previous CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative prior to the time and date when the department or its agent receives the superseding account certificate of representation shall be binding on the new CO₂ authorized account representative and the owners and operators of the CO₂ budget source and the CO₂ budget units at the source.

B. The [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative may be changed at any time upon receipt by the department or its agent of a superseding complete account certificate of representation under 9VAC5-140-6110. Notwithstanding any such change, all representations, actions, inactions, and submissions by the previous [ or alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative prior to the time and date when the department or its agent receives the superseding account certificate of representation shall be binding on the new [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative and the owners and operators of the CO₂ budget source and the CO₂ budget units at the source.

C. Changes in the owners and operators shall be addressed as follows.

1. In the event a new owner or operator of a CO₂ budget source or a CO₂ budget unit is not included in the list of owners and operators submitted in the account certificate of representation, such new owner or operator shall be deemed to be subject to and bound by the account certificate of representation, the representations, actions, inactions, and submissions of the CO₂ authorized account representative and any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative of the source or unit, and the decisions, orders, actions, and inactions of the department, as if the new owner or operator were included in such list.

2. Within 30 days following any change in the owners and operators of a CO₂ budget source or a CO₂ budget unit, including the addition of a new owner or operator, the CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative shall submit a revision to the account certificate of representation amending the list of owners and operators to include the change.

9VAC5-140-6110. Account certificate of representation.

A. A complete account certificate of representation for a CO₂ authorized account representative or [ an alternate a ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative shall include the following elements in a format prescribed by the department or its agent:

1. Identification of the CO₂ budget source and each CO₂ budget unit at the source for which the account certificate of representation is submitted;

2. The name, address, email address, telephone number, and facsimile transmission number of the CO₂ authorized account representative and any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative;

3. A list of the owners and operators of the CO₂ budget source and of each CO₂ budget unit at the source;

4. The following certification statement by the CO₂ authorized account representative and any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative: "I certify that I was selected as the CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative, as applicable, by an agreement binding on the owners and operators of the CO₂ budget source and each CO₂ budget unit at the source. I certify that I have all the necessary authority to carry out my duties and responsibilities under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program on behalf of the owners and operators of the CO₂ budget source and of each CO₂ budget unit at the source and that each such owner and operator shall be fully bound by my representations, actions, inactions, or submissions and by any decision or order issued to me by the department or a court regarding the source or unit."; and

5. The signature of the CO₂ authorized account representative and any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative and the dates signed.

B. Unless otherwise required by the department or its agent, documents of agreement referred to in the account certificate of representation shall not be submitted to the department or its agent. Neither the department nor its agent shall be under any obligation to review or evaluate the sufficiency of such documents, if submitted.

9VAC5-140-6120. Objections concerning the CO₂ authorized account representative.

A. Once a complete account certificate of representation under 9VAC5-140-6110 has been submitted and received, the department and its agent will rely on the account certificate of representation unless and until the department or its agent receives a superseding complete account certificate of representation under 9VAC5-140-6110.

B. Except as provided in 9VAC5-140-6100 A or B, no objection or other communication submitted to the department or its agent concerning the authorization, or any representation, action, inaction, or submission of the CO₂ authorized account representative shall affect any representation, action, inaction, or submission of the CO₂ authorized account representative or the finality of any decision or order by the department or its agent under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program.

C. Neither the department nor its agent will adjudicate any private legal dispute concerning the authorization or any representation, action, inaction, or submission of any CO₂ authorized account representative, including private legal disputes concerning the proceeds of CO₂ allowance transfers.

9VAC5-140-6130. Delegation by CO₂ authorized account representative and [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative.

A. A CO₂ authorized account representative may delegate, to one or more natural persons, his authority to make an electronic submission to the department or its agent under this part.

B. [ An alternate A ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative may delegate, to one or more natural persons, his authority to make an electronic submission to the department or its agent under this part.

C. To delegate authority to make an electronic submission to the department or its agent in accordance with subsections A and B of this section, the CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative, as appropriate, shall submit to the department or its agent a notice of delegation, in a format prescribed by the department that includes the following elements:

1. The name, address, email address, telephone number, and facsimile transmission number of such CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative;

2. The name, address, email address, telephone number, and facsimile transmission number of each such natural person, referred to as the "electronic submission agent";

3. For each such natural person, a list of the type of electronic submissions under subsection A or B of this section for which authority is delegated to him; and

4. The following certification statement by such CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative: "I agree that any electronic submission to the department or its agent that is by a natural person identified in this notice of delegation and of a type listed for such electronic submission agent in this notice of delegation and that is made when I am a CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative, as appropriate, and before this notice of delegation is superseded by another notice of delegation under 9VAC5-140-6130 D shall be deemed to be an electronic submission by me. Until this notice of delegation is superseded by another notice of delegation under 9VAC5-140-6130 D, I agree to maintain an email account and to notify the department or its agent immediately of any change in my email address unless all delegation authority by me under 9VAC5-140-6130 is terminated."

D. A notice of delegation submitted under subsection C of this section shall be effective, with regard to the CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative identified in such notice, upon receipt of such notice by the department or its agent and until receipt by the department or its agent of a superseding notice of delegation by such CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative as appropriate. The superseding notice of delegation may replace any previously identified electronic submission agent, add a new electronic submission agent, or eliminate entirely any delegation of authority.

E. Any electronic submission covered by the certification in subdivision C 4 of this section and made in accordance with a notice of delegation effective under subsection D of this section shall be deemed to be an electronic submission by the CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative submitting such notice of delegation.

F. A CO₂ authorized account representative may delegate, to one or more natural persons, his authority to review information in the CO₂ allowance tracking system under this part.

G. [ An alternate A ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative may delegate, to one or more natural persons, his authority to review information in the CO₂ allowance tracking system under this part.

H. To delegate authority to review information in the CO₂ allowance tracking system in accordance with subsections F and G of this section, the CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative, as appropriate, [ must shall ] submit to the department or its agent a notice of delegation, in a format prescribed by the department that includes the following elements:

1. The name, address, email address, telephone number, and facsimile transmission number of such CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative;

2. The name, address, email address, telephone number, and facsimile transmission number of each such natural person, referred to as the "reviewer";

3. For each such natural person, a list of the type of information under subsection F or G of this section for which authority is delegated to him; and

4. The following certification statement by such CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative: "I agree that any information that is reviewed by a natural person identified in this notice of delegation and of a type listed for such information accessible by the reviewer in this notice of delegation and that is made when I am a CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative, as appropriate, and before this notice of delegation is superseded by another notice of delegation under subsection I of this section shall be deemed to be a reviewer by me. Until this notice of delegation is superseded by another notice of delegation under subsection I of this section, I agree to maintain an email account and to notify the department or its agent immediately of any change in my email address unless all delegation authority by me under this section is terminated."

I. A notice of delegation submitted under subsection H of this section shall be effective, with regard to the CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative identified in such notice, upon receipt of such notice by the department or its agent and until receipt by the department or its agent of a superseding notice of delegation by such CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative as appropriate. The superseding notice of delegation may replace any previously identified reviewer, add a new reviewer, or eliminate entirely any delegation of authority.

Article 3
Permits

9VAC5-140-6140. CO₂ budget permit requirements.

A. Each CO₂ budget source shall have a permit issued by the department pursuant to 9VAC5-85 (Permits for Stationary Sources of Pollutants Subject to Regulation).

B. Each CO₂ budget permit shall contain all applicable CO₂ Budget Trading Program requirements and shall be a complete and distinguishable portion of the permit under subsection A of this section.

9VAC5-140-6150. Submission of CO₂ budget permit applications.

For any CO₂ budget source, the CO₂ authorized account representative shall submit a complete CO₂ budget permit application under 9VAC5-140-6160 covering such CO₂ budget source to the department by the later of January 1, 2020, or 12 months before the date on which the CO₂ budget source, or a new unit at the source, commences operation.

9VAC5-140-6160. Information requirements for CO₂ budget permit applications.

A complete CO₂ budget permit application shall include the following elements concerning the CO₂ budget source for which the application is submitted, in a format prescribed by the department:

1. Identification of the CO₂ budget source, including plant name and the ORIS (Office of Regulatory Information Systems) or facility code assigned to the source by the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy if applicable;

2. Identification of each CO₂ budget unit at the CO₂ budget source; and

3. The standard requirements under 9VAC5-140-6050.

Article 4
Compliance Certification

9VAC5-140-6170. Compliance certification report.

A. For each control period in which a CO₂ budget source is subject to the CO₂ requirements of 9VAC5-140-6050 C, the CO₂ authorized account representative of the source shall submit to the department by March 1 following the relevant control period, a compliance certification report. A compliance certification report is not required as part of the compliance obligation during an interim control period.

B. The CO₂ authorized account representative shall include in the compliance certification report under subsection A of this section the following elements, in a format prescribed by the department:

1. Identification of the source and each CO₂ budget unit at the source;

2. At the CO₂ authorized account representative's option, the serial numbers of the CO₂ allowances that are to be deducted from the source's compliance account under 9VAC5-140-6260 for the control period; and

3. The compliance certification under subsection C of this section.

C. In the compliance certification report under subsection A of this section, the CO₂ authorized account representative shall certify, based on reasonable inquiry of those persons with primary responsibility for operating the source and the CO₂ budget units at the source in compliance with the CO₂ Budget Trading Program, whether the source and each CO₂ budget unit at the source for which the compliance certification is submitted was operated during the calendar years covered by the report in compliance with the requirements of the CO₂ Budget Trading Program, including:

1. Whether the source was operated in compliance with the CO₂ requirements of 9VAC5-140-6050 C;

2. Whether the monitoring plan applicable to each unit at the source has been maintained to reflect the actual operation and monitoring of the unit, and contains all information necessary to attribute CO₂ emissions to the unit, in accordance with Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part;

3. Whether all the CO₂ emissions from the units at the source were monitored or accounted for through the missing data procedures and reported in the quarterly monitoring reports, including whether conditional data were reported in the quarterly reports in accordance with Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part. If conditional data were reported, the owner or operator shall indicate whether the status of all conditional data has been resolved and all necessary quarterly report resubmissions have been made;

4. Whether the facts that form the basis for certification under Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part of each monitor at each unit at the source, or for using an excepted monitoring method or alternative monitoring method approved under Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part, if any, have changed; and

5. If a change is required to be reported under subdivision 4 of this subsection, specify the nature of the change, the reason for the change, when the change occurred, and how the unit's compliance status was determined subsequent to the change, including what method was used to determine emissions when a change mandated the need for monitor recertification.

9VAC5-140-6180. Action on compliance certifications.

A. The department or its agent may review and conduct independent audits concerning any compliance certification or any other submission under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program and make appropriate adjustments of the information in the compliance certifications or other submissions.

B. The department or its agent may deduct CO₂ allowances from or transfer CO₂ allowances to a source's compliance account based on the information in the compliance certifications or other submissions, as adjusted under subsection A of this section.

Article 5
CO₂ Allowance Allocations

[ Editor's Note: Two versions of 9VAC5-140-6190 are provided for comment. The board seeks comment on whether the base budget should be 33 million tons or 34 million tons, with corresponding 3.0% per year reductions. The first version (Version 1) represents a 33 million ton base budget, and the second version (Version 2) represents a 34 million ton base budget. ]

9VAC5-140-6190. Base budgets.

[ Version 1, 33 million ton base budget: ]

A. The Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget shall be as follows:

1. For 2020, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is [ 33 28 ] million tons.

2. For 2021, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is [ 32.01 27.16 ] million tons.

3. For 2022, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is [ 31.02 26.32 ] million tons.

4. For 2023, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is [ 30.03 25.48 ] million tons.

5. For 2024, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is [ 29.04 24.64 ] million tons.

6. For 2025, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is [ 28.05 23.80 ] million tons.

7. For 2026, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is [ 27.06 22.96 ] million tons.

8. For 2027, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is [ 26.07 22.12 ] million tons.

9. For 2028, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is [ 25.08 21.28 ] million tons.

10. For 2029, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is [ 24.09 20.44 ] million tons.

11. For 2030, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is [ 23.10 19.60 ] million tons.

B. The department will allocate conditional allowances to CO₂ budget units and to DMME. After a conditional allowance has been consigned in an auction by a CO₂ budget unit and the holder of a public contract with DMME as specified under Article 9 (9VAC5-140-6410 et seq.) of this part, the conditional allowance becomes an allowance to be used for compliance purposes.

C. For 2031 and each succeeding calendar year, [ the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is 23.10 million tons the department will review the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget and recommend to the board appropriate adjustments in the base budget for such succeeding years. The department will consider the best available science and all relevant information and policies available from any CO₂ multistate trading program in which Virginia is participating when considering further reductions. Absent any adjustment, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget for each year of the decade 2031-2040 shall be reduced by 840,000 tons from the preceding year ].

[ Version 2, 34 million ton base budget:

A. The Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget shall be as follows:

1. For 2020, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is 34 million tons.

2. For 2021, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is 32.98 million tons.

3. For 2022, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is 31.96 million tons.

4. For 2023, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is 30.94 million tons.

5. For 2024, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is 29.92 million tons.

6. For 2025, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is 28.90 million tons.

7. For 2026, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is 27.88 million tons.

8. For 2027, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is 26.86 million tons.

9. For 2028, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is 25.84 million tons.

10. For 2029, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is 24.82 million tons.

11. For 2030, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is 23.80 million tons.

B. The department will allocate conditional allowances to CO₂ budget units and to DMME. After a conditional allowance has been consigned in an auction by a CO₂ budget unit and the holder of a public contract with DMME as specified under Article 9 (9VAC5-140-6410 et seq.) of this part, the conditional allowance becomes an allowance to be used for compliance purposes.

C. For 2031 and each succeeding calendar year, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget is 23.80 million tons. ]

9VAC5-140-6200. Undistributed and unsold [ CO₂ conditional ] allowances.

A. The department [ may will ] retire undistributed [ CO₂ conditional ] allowances at the end of each control period.

B. The department [ may will ] retire unsold [ CO₂ conditional ] allowances at the end of each control period.

[ Editor's Note: Two versions of 9VAC5-140-6210 are provided for comment. The board seeks comment on whether the base budget should be 33 million tons or 34 million tons, with corresponding 3.0% per year reductions. The first version (Version 1) represents a 33 million ton base budget, and the second version (Version 2) represents a 34 million ton base budget. ]

9VAC5-140-6210. CO₂ allowance allocations.

[ Version 1, 33 million ton base budget: ]

A. The department will allocate [ 95% of ] the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget [ allowances ] to CO₂ budget sources to be consigned to auction to the Virginia Consignment Auction Account.

[ B. The department will allocate 5.0% of the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget to DMME to be consigned to auction by DMME to assist the department for the abatement and control of air pollution, specifically, CO₂.

C. B. ] For allocation years 2020 through 2031, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program adjusted budget shall be the maximum number of allowances available for allocation in a given allocation year, except for CO₂ CCR allowances.

[ D. C. ] The cost containment reserve (CCR) allocation shall be managed as follows. The department will allocate CO₂ CCR allowances, separate from and additional to the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget set forth in 9VAC5-140-6190, to the Virginia Auction Account. The CCR allocation is for the purpose of containing the cost of CO₂ allowances. The department will allocate CO₂ CCR allowances as follows [ .: ]

1. [ The Beginning in calendar year 2020, the ] department will initially allocate [ 3.3 million, on a pro rata basis to CO₂ budget sources, 2.8 million ] CO₂ CCR allowances [ for calendar year 2020 ].

2. On or before January 1, 2021, and each year thereafter, the department will allocate [ , on a pro rata basis to CO₂ budget sources, ] current vintage year CCR allowances equal to the quantity in Table 140-5A, and withdraw the number of CO₂ CCR allowances that remain in the Virginia Auction Account at the end of the prior calendar year.

[ 3. The pro rata calculation to be used for the distribution of CO₂ CCR allowances is as follows:

SAA/TAA * CCR = SCCR

Where:

SAA = source adjusted allocation

TAA = total adjusted allocation

SCCR = source CCR

E. Annual base budgets as described in subsections A and B of this section may be decreased in any year as necessary to account for transfers to the Virginia Emission Containment Reserve (ECR) account and adjustments for banked allowances D. In the event that the ECR is triggered during an auction, the department will authorize its agent to withhold conditional allowances as needed. ] The department will [ further authorize its agent to ] convert and transfer any [ CO₂ conditional ] allowances that have been withheld from any auction [ in the prior year ] into the Virginia ECR account. The ECR withholding is for the purpose of additional emission reduction in the event of lower than anticipated emission reduction costs. The [ department department's agent ] will withhold CO₂ ECR allowances as follows:

1. If the condition in 9VAC5-140-6420 D 1 is met at an auction, then the maximum number of CO₂ ECR allowances that will be withheld from that auction will be equal to the quantity shown in Table 140-5B minus the total quantity of CO₂ ECR allowances that have been withheld from any prior auction in that calendar year. Any CO₂ ECR allowances withheld from an auction will be transferred into the Virginia ECR account.

2. Allowances that have been transferred into the Virginia ECR account shall not be withdrawn.

[ F. E. ] The adjustment for banked allowances [ shall will ] be as follows. On March [ 15 17 ], 2021, the department [ will may ] determine the [ third ] adjustment for banked allowances quantity for allocation years 2021 through 2025 through the application of the following formula:

TABA = ((TA – TAE)/5) x RS%

Where:

TABA is the adjustment for banked allowances quantity in tons.

TA, adjustment, is the total quantity of allowances of vintage years prior to 2021 held in general and compliance accounts, including compliance accounts established pursuant to the CO₂ Budget Trading Program but not including accounts opened by participating states, as reflected in the CO₂ Allowance Tracking System on March 15, 2021.

TAE, adjustment emissions, is the total quantity of 2018, 2019, and 2020 emissions from all CO₂ budget sources in all participating states, reported pursuant to CO₂ Budget Trading Program as reflected in the CO₂ Allowance Tracking System on March [ 15 17 ], 2021.

RS% is Virginia budget divided by the regional budget.

[ G. F. ] CO₂ Budget Trading Program adjusted budgets for 2021 through 2025 shall be determined as follows. On April 15, 2021, the department will determine the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program adjusted budgets for the 2021 through 2025 allocation years by the following formula:

AB = BB – TABA

Where:

AB is the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program adjusted budget.

BB is the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget.

TABA is the adjustment for banked allowances quantity in tons.

[ H. G. ] The department or its agent will publish the CO₂ trading program adjusted budgets for the 2021 through 2025 allocation years.

[ I. H. ] Timing requirements for CO₂ allowance allocations shall be as follows [ .: ]

1. By May 1, 2019, the department will submit to [ RGGI, Inc., its agent ] the [ CO₂ ] conditional allowance allocations [ , in a format prescribed by RGGI, Inc., and ] in accordance with 9VAC5-140-6215 A and B, for the initial control period, 2020.

2. [ By May 1, 2020, the department will submit to its agent 50% of the conditional allowance allocations in accordance with 9VAC5-140-6215 A and B, for the 2021 control period. By April 1, 2021, the department will submit to its agent the remainder of the conditional allowance allocations in accordance with 9VAC5-140-6215 A and B, for 2021.

3. ] By May 1, [ 2020 2021 ], and May 1 of every [ third subsequent ] year thereafter, the department will submit to [ RGGI, Inc., its agent ] the CO₂ allowance allocations [ , in a format prescribed by RGGI, Inc., ] for the applicable control period [ , and ] in accordance with 9VAC5-140-6215 A and B.

[ I. Implementation of the CCR (subsection C of this section), the ECR (subsection D of this section) and the banking adjustment (subsection E of this section) shall be determined based on the extent of the CO₂ trading program. ]

[ Version 2, 34 million ton base budget:

A. The department will allocate 95% of the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget to CO₂ budget sources to be consigned to auction to the Virginia Consignment Auction Account.

B. The department will allocate 5.0% of the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget to DMME to be consigned to auction by the holder of a public contract with DMME to assist the department for the abatement and control of air pollution, specifically CO₂.

C. For allocation years 2020 through 2031, the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program adjusted budget shall be the maximum number of allowances available for allocation in a given allocation year, except for CO₂ CCR allowances.

D. The cost containment reserve (CCR) allocation shall be managed as follows. The department will allocate CO₂ CCR allowances, separate from and additional to the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget set forth in 9VAC5-140-6190, to the Virginia Auction Account. The CCR allocation is for the purpose of containing the cost of CO₂ allowances. The department will allocate CO₂ CCR allowances as follows.

1. The department will initially allocate 3.4 million CO₂ CCR allowances for calendar year 2020.

2. On or before January 1, 2021, and each year thereafter, the department will allocate current vintage year CCR allowances equal to the quantity in Table 140-5A, and withdraw the number of CO₂ CCR allowances that remain in the Virginia Auction Account at the end of the prior calendar year.

E. Annual base budgets as described in subsections A and B of this section may be decreased in any year as necessary to account for transfers to the Virginia Emission Containment Reserve (ECR) account and adjustments for banked allowances. The department will convert and transfer any CO₂ allowances that have been withheld from any auction in the prior year into the Virginia ECR account. The ECR withholding is for the purpose of additional emission reduction in the event of lower than anticipated emission reduction costs. The department will withhold CO₂ ECR allowances as follows:

1. If the condition in 9VAC5-140-6420 D 1 is met at an auction, then the maximum number of CO₂ ECR allowances that will be withheld from that auction will be equal to the quantity shown in Table 140-5B minus the total quantity of CO₂ ECR allowances that have been withheld from any prior auction in that calendar year. Any CO₂ ECR allowances withheld from an auction will be transferred into the Virginia ECR account.

2. Allowances that have been transferred into the Virginia ECR account shall not be withdrawn.

F. The adjustment for banked allowances shall be as follows. On March 15, 2021, the department will determine the third adjustment for banked allowances quantity for allocation years 2021 through 2025 through the application of the following formula:

TABA = ((TA – TAE)/5) x RS%

Where:

TABA is the adjustment for banked allowances quantity in tons.

TA, adjustment, is the total quantity of allowances of vintage years prior to 2021 held in general and compliance accounts, including compliance accounts established pursuant to the CO₂ Budget Trading Program but not including accounts opened by participating states, as reflected in the CO₂ Allowance Tracking System on March 15, 2021.

TAE, adjustment emissions, is the total quantity of 2018, 2019, and 2020 emissions from all CO₂ budget sources in all participating states, reported pursuant to CO₂ Budget Trading Program as reflected in the CO₂ Allowance Tracking System on March 15, 2021.

RS% is Virginia budget divided by the regional budget.

G. CO₂ Budget Trading Program adjusted budgets for 2021 through 2025 shall be determined as follows. On April 15, 2021, the department will determine the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program adjusted budgets for the 2021 through 2025 allocation years by the following formula:

AB = BB – TABA

Where:

AB is the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program adjusted budget.

BB is the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base budget.

TABA is the adjustment for banked allowances quantity in tons.

H. The department or its agent will publish the CO₂ trading program adjusted budgets for the 2021 through 2025 allocation years.

I. Timing requirements for CO₂ allowance allocations shall be as follows:

1. By May 1, 2019, the department will submit to RGGI, Inc., the CO₂ conditional allowance allocations, in a format prescribed by RGGI, Inc., and in accordance with 9VAC5-140-6215 A and B, for the initial control period, 2020.

2. By May 1, 2020, and May 1 of every third year thereafter, the department will submit to RGGI, Inc., the CO₂ allowance allocations, in a format prescribed by RGGI, Inc., for the applicable control period, and in accordance with 9VAC5-140-6215 A and B. ]

[ 9VAC5-140-6211. CO2 allowance allocations, DMME allowances.

Notwithstanding 9VAC5-140-6210, the department will allocate 5.0% of the Virginia CO₂ Budget Trading Program base or adjusted budget allowances, as applicable, to DMME to be consigned to auction by the holder of a public contract with DMME to assist the department for the abatement and control of air pollution, specifically CO₂, by the implementation of programs that lower base and peak electricity demand and reduce the cost of the program to consumers and budget sources. ]

9VAC5-140-6215. CO₂ allocation methodology.

A. The net-electric output in MWh used with respect to CO₂ allowance allocations under subsection B of this section for each CO₂ budget unit shall be:

1. For units operating on or before January 1, 2020, the average of the three amounts of the unit's net-electric output during 2016, 2017, and 2018 to determine allocations for the initial control period.

2. For all units operating in each control period after 2020, the average of the three amounts of the unit's total net-electric output during the three most recent years for which data are available prior to the start of the control period.

B. 1. For each control period beginning in 2020 and thereafter, the department will allocate to all CO₂ budget units that have a net-electric output, as determined under subsection A of this section, a total amount of CO₂ conditional allowances equal to the CO₂ base budget.

2. The department will allocate CO₂ conditional allowances to each CO₂ budget unit under subdivision 1 of this subsection in an amount determined by multiplying the total amount of CO₂ allowances allocated under subdivision 1 of this subsection by the ratio of the baseline electrical output of such CO₂ budget unit to the total amount of baseline electrical output of all such CO₂ budget units and rounding to the nearest whole allowance as appropriate.

3. New CO₂ budget units will be allocated CO₂ conditional allowances once they have established electrical output data to be used in the conditional allowance allocation process.

C. For the purpose of the allocation process as described in subsections A and B of this section, CO₂ budget units shall report the unit's net-electric output to the department on a yearly basis as follows:

1. By March 1, 2019, each CO₂ budget unit shall report yearly net-electric output data during 2016, 2017, and 2018.

2. By March 1, 2020, and each year thereafter, each CO₂ budget unit shall report yearly net-electric output data for the previous year.

Article 6
CO₂ Allowance Tracking System

9VAC5-140-6220. CO₂ Allowance Tracking System accounts.

A. Consistent with 9VAC5-140-6230 A, the department or its agent will establish one compliance account for each CO₂ budget source. Allocations of CO₂ conditional allowances pursuant to Article 5 (9VAC5-140-6190 et seq.) of this part and deductions or transfers of CO₂ conditional allowances pursuant to 9VAC5-140-6180, 9VAC5-140-6260, 9VAC5-140-6280, or Article 7 (9VAC5-140-6300 et seq.) of this part will be recorded in the compliance accounts in accordance with this section.

B. Consistent with 9VAC5-140-6230 B, the department or its agent will establish, upon request, a general account for any person. Transfers of CO₂ allowances pursuant to Article 7 (9VAC5-140-6300 et seq.) of this part will be recorded in the general account in accordance with this article.

9VAC5-140-6230. Establishment of accounts.

A. Upon receipt of a complete account certificate of representation under 9VAC5-140-6110, the department or its agent will establish a conditional allowance account and a compliance account for each CO₂ budget source and a conditional compliance account for DMME for which the account certificate of representation was submitted.

B. General accounts shall operate as follows.

1. Any person may apply to open a general account for the purpose of holding and transferring CO₂ allowances. An application for a general account may designate one and only one CO₂ authorized account representative and one and only one [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative who may act on behalf of the CO₂ authorized account representative. The agreement by which the [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative is selected shall include a procedure for authorizing the [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative to act in lieu of the CO₂ authorized account representative. A complete application for a general account shall be submitted to the department or its agent and shall include the following elements in a format prescribed by the department or its agent:

a. Name, address, email address, telephone number, and facsimile transmission number of the CO₂ authorized account representative and any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative;

b. At the option of the CO₂ authorized account representative, organization name and type of organization;

c. A list of all persons subject to a binding agreement for the CO₂ authorized account representative or any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative to represent their ownership interest with respect to the CO₂ allowances held in the general account;

d. The following certification statement by the CO₂ authorized account representative and any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative: "I certify that I was selected as the CO₂ authorized account representative or the CO₂ [ alternate ] authorized [ alternate ] account representative, as applicable, by an agreement that is binding on all persons who have an ownership interest with respect to CO₂ allowances held in the general account. I certify that I have all the necessary authority to carry out my duties and responsibilities under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program on behalf of such persons and that each such person shall be fully bound by my representations, actions, inactions, or submissions and by any order or decision issued to me by the department or its agent or a court regarding the general account.";

e. The signature of the CO₂ authorized account representative and any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative and the dates signed; and

f. Unless otherwise required by the department or its agent, documents of agreement referred to in the application for a general account shall not be submitted to the department or its agent. Neither the department nor its agent shall be under any obligation to review or evaluate the sufficiency of such documents, if submitted.

2. Authorization of the CO₂ authorized account representative shall be as follows:

a. Upon receipt by the department or its agent of a complete application for a general account under subdivision 1 of this subsection:

(1) The department or its agent will establish a general account for the person for whom the application is submitted.

(2) The CO₂ authorized account representative and any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative for the general account shall represent and, by his representations, actions, inactions, or submissions, legally bind each person who has an ownership interest with respect to CO₂ allowances held in the general account in all matters pertaining to the CO₂ Budget Trading Program, notwithstanding any agreement between the CO₂ authorized account representative or any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative and such person. Any such person shall be bound by any order or decision issued to the CO₂ authorized account representative or any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative by the department or its agent or a court regarding the general account.

(3) Any representation, action, inaction, or submission by any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative shall be deemed to be a representation, action, inaction, or submission by the CO₂ authorized account representative.

b. Each submission concerning the general account shall be submitted, signed, and certified by the CO₂ authorized account representative or any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative for the persons having an ownership interest with respect to CO₂ allowances held in the general account. Each such submission shall include the following certification statement by the CO₂ authorized account representative or any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative: "I am authorized to make this submission on behalf of the persons having an ownership interest with respect to the CO₂ allowances held in the general account. I certify under penalty of law that I have personally examined, and am familiar with, the statements and information submitted in this document and all its attachments. Based on my inquiry of those individuals with primary responsibility for obtaining the information, I certify that the statements and information are to the best of my knowledge and belief true, accurate, and complete. I am aware that there are significant penalties for submitting false statements and information or omitting required statements and information, including the possibility of fine or imprisonment."

c. The department or its agent will accept or act on a submission concerning the general account only if the submission has been made, signed, and certified in accordance with subdivision 2 b of this subsection.

3. Changing CO₂ authorized account representative and [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative, and changes in persons with ownership interest, shall be accomplished as follows:

a. The CO₂ authorized account representative for a general account may be changed at any time upon receipt by the department or its agent of a superseding complete application for a general account under subdivision 1 of this subsection. Notwithstanding any such change, all representations, actions, inactions, and submissions by the previous CO₂ authorized account representative, or the previous [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative, prior to the time and date when the department or its agent receives the superseding application for a general account shall be binding on the new CO₂ authorized account representative and the persons with an ownership interest with respect to the CO₂ allowances in the general account.

b. The [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative for a general account may be changed at any time upon receipt by the department or its agent of a superseding complete application for a general account under subdivision 1 of this subsection. Notwithstanding any such change, all representations, actions, inactions, and submissions by the previous CO₂ authorized account representative, or the previous [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative, prior to the time and date when the department or its agent receives the superseding application for a general account shall be binding on the new alternate CO₂ authorized account representative and the persons with an ownership interest with respect to the CO₂ allowances in the general account.

c. In the event a new person having an ownership interest with respect to CO₂ allowances in the general account is not included in the list of such persons in the application for a general account, such new person shall be deemed to be subject to and bound by the application for a general account, the representations, actions, inactions, and submissions of the CO₂ authorized account representative and any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative, and the decisions, orders, actions, and inactions of the department or its agent, as if the new person were included in such list.

d. Within 30 days following any change in the persons having an ownership interest with respect to CO₂ allowances in the general account, including the addition or deletion of persons, the CO₂ authorized account representative or any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative shall submit a revision to the application for a general account amending the list of persons having an ownership interest with respect to the CO₂ allowances in the general account to include the change.

4. Objections concerning CO₂ authorized account representative shall be governed as follows:

a. Once a complete application for a general account under subdivision 1 of this subsection has been submitted and received, the department or its agent will rely on the application unless and until a superseding complete application for a general account under subdivision 1 of this subsection is received by the department or its agent.

b. Except as provided in subdivisions 3 a and 3 b of this subsection, no objection or other communication submitted to the department or its agent concerning the authorization, or any representation, action, inaction, or submission of the CO₂ authorized account representative or any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative for a general account shall affect any representation, action, inaction, or submission of the CO₂ authorized account representative or any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative or the finality of any decision or order by the department or its agent under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program.

c. Neither the department nor its agent will adjudicate any private legal dispute concerning the authorization or any representation, action, inaction, or submission of the CO₂ authorized account representative or any [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative for a general account, including private legal disputes concerning the proceeds of CO₂ allowance transfers.

5. Delegation by CO₂ authorized account representative and [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative shall be accomplished as follows:

a. A CO₂ authorized account representative may delegate, to one or more natural persons, his authority to make an electronic submission to the department or its agent provided for under this article and Article 7 (9VAC5-140-6300 et seq.) of this part.

b. [ An alternate A ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative may delegate, to one or more natural persons, his authority to make an electronic submission to the department or its agent provided for under this article and Article 7 (9VAC5-140-6300 et seq.) of this part.

c. To delegate authority to make an electronic submission to the department or its agent in accordance with subdivisions 5 a and 5 b of this subsection, the CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative, as appropriate, shall submit to the department or its agent a notice of delegation, in a format prescribed by the department that includes the following elements:

(1) The name, address, email address, telephone number, and facsimile transmission number of such CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative;

(2) The name, address, email address, telephone number, and facsimile transmission number of each such natural person, referred to as "electronic submission agent";

(3) For each such natural person, a list of the type of electronic submissions under subdivision 5 c (1) or 5 c (2) of this subsection for which authority is delegated to him; and

(4) The following certification statement by such CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative: "I agree that any electronic submission to the department or its agent that is by a natural person identified in this notice of delegation and of a type listed for such electronic submission agent in this notice of delegation and that is made when I am a CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative, as appropriate, and before this notice of delegation is superseded by another notice of delegation under 9VAC5-140-6230 B 5 d shall be deemed to be an electronic submission by me. Until this notice of delegation is superseded by another notice of delegation under 9VAC5-140-6230 B 5 d, I agree to maintain an email account and to notify the department or its agent immediately of any change in my email address unless all delegation authority by me under 9VAC5-140-6230 B 5 is terminated."

d. A notice of delegation submitted under subdivision 5 c of this subsection shall be effective, with regard to the CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative identified in such notice, upon receipt of such notice by the department or its agent and until receipt by the department or its agent of a superseding notice of delegation by such CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative as appropriate. The superseding notice of delegation may replace any previously identified electronic submission agent, add a new electronic submission agent, or eliminate entirely any delegation of authority.

e. Any electronic submission covered by the certification in subdivision 5 c (4) of this subsection and made in accordance with a notice of delegation effective under subdivision 5 d of this subsection shall be deemed to be an electronic submission by the CO₂ authorized account representative or [ alternate ] CO₂ authorized [ alternate ] account representative submitting such notice of delegation.

C. The department or its agent will assign a unique identifying number to each account established under subsection A or B of this section.

9VAC5-140-6240. CO₂ Allowance Tracking System responsibilities of CO₂ authorized account representative.

Following the establishment of a COATS account, all submissions to the department or its agent pertaining to the account, including submissions concerning the deduction or transfer of CO₂ allowances in the account, shall be made only by the CO₂ authorized account representative for the account.

9VAC5-140-6250. Recordation of CO₂ allowance allocations.

A. By January 1 of each calendar year, the department or its agent will record in the following accounts:

1. In each CO₂ budget source's and DMME's conditional allowance account, the CO₂ conditional allowances allocated to those sources and DMME by the department prior to being consigned to auction; and

2. In each CO₂ budget source's compliance account, the CO₂ allowances purchased at auction by CO₂ budget units at the source under 9VAC5-140-6210 A.

B. Each year the department or its agent will record CO₂ allowances, as allocated to the unit under Article 5 (9VAC5-140-6190 et seq.) of this part, in the compliance account for the year after the last year for which CO₂ allowances were previously allocated to the compliance account. Each year, the department or its agent will also record CO₂ allowances, as allocated under Article 5 (9VAC5-140-6190 et seq.) of this part, in an allocation set-aside for the year after the last year for which CO₂ allowances were previously allocated to an allocation set-aside.

C. Serial numbers for allocated CO₂ allowances shall be managed as follows. When allocating CO₂ allowances to and recording them in an account, the department or its agent will assign each CO₂ allowance a unique identification number that will include digits identifying the year for which the CO₂ allowance is allocated.

9VAC5-140-6260. Compliance.

A. CO₂ allowances that meet the following criteria are available to be deducted for a CO₂ budget source to comply with the CO₂ requirements of 9VAC5-140-6050 C for a control period or an interim control period.

1. The CO₂ allowances are of allocation years that fall within a prior control period, the same control period, or the same interim control period for which the allowances will be deducted.

2. The CO₂ allowances are held in the CO₂ budget source's compliance account as of the CO₂ allowance transfer deadline for that control period or interim control period or are transferred into the compliance account by a CO₂ allowance transfer correctly submitted for recordation under 9VAC5-140-6300 by the CO₂ allowance transfer deadline for that control period or interim control period.

[ 3. For CO₂ offset allowances generated by other participating states, the number of CO₂ offset allowances that are available to be deducted in order for a CO₂ budget source to comply with the CO₂ requirements of 9VAC5-140-6050 C for a control period, initial control period, or an interim control period shall not exceed 3.3% of the CO₂ budget source's CO₂ emissions for that control period, or may not exceed 3.3% of 0.50 times the CO₂ budget source's CO₂ emissions for an interim control period, as determined in accordance with this article and Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part.

3. 4. ] The CO₂ allowances are not necessary for deductions for excess emissions for a prior control period under subsection D of this section.

B. Following the recordation, in accordance with 9VAC5-140-6310, of CO₂ allowance transfers submitted for recordation in the CO₂ budget source's compliance account by the CO₂ allowance transfer deadline for a control period or interim control period, the department or its agent will deduct CO₂ allowances available under subsection A of this section to cover the source's CO₂ emissions, as determined in accordance with Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part, for the control period or interim control period, as follows:

1. Until the amount of CO₂ allowances deducted equals the number of tons of total CO₂ emissions, or 0.50 times the number of tons of total CO₂ emissions for an interim control period, determined in accordance with Article 8 (9VAC5-140-6330 et seq.) of this part, from all CO₂ budget units at the CO₂ budget source for the control period or interim control period; or

2. If there are insufficient CO₂ allowances to complete the deductions in subdivision 1 of this subsection, until no more CO₂ allowances available under subsection A of this section remain in the compliance account.

C. Identification of available CO₂ allowances by serial number and default compliance deductions shall be managed as follows:

1. The CO₂ authorized account representative for a source's compliance account may request that specific CO₂ allowances, identified by serial number, in the compliance account be deducted for emissions or excess emissions for a control period or interim control period in accordance with subsection B or D of this section. Such identification shall be made in the compliance certification report submitted in accordance with 9VAC5-140-6170.

2. The department or its agent will deduct CO₂ allowances for a control period from the CO₂ budget source's compliance account, in the absence of an identification or in the case of a partial identification of available CO₂ allowances by serial number under subdivision 1 of this subsection, as follows: Any CO₂ allowances that are available for deduction under subdivision 1 of this subsection. CO₂ allowances shall be deducted in chronological order (i.e., CO₂ allowances from earlier allocation years shall be deducted before CO₂ allowances from later allocation years). In the event that some, but not all, CO₂ allowances from a particular allocation year are to be deducted, CO₂ allowances shall be deducted by serial number, with lower serial number allowances deducted before higher serial number allowances.

D. Deductions for excess emissions shall be managed as follows.

1. After making the deductions for compliance under subsection B of this section, the department or its agent will deduct from the CO₂ budget source's compliance account a number of CO₂ allowances equal to three times the number of the source's excess emissions. In the event that a source has insufficient CO₂ allowances to cover three times the number of the source's excess emissions, the source shall be required to immediately transfer sufficient allowances into its compliance account.

2. Any CO₂ allowance deduction required under subdivision 1 of this subsection shall not affect the liability of the owners and operators of the CO₂ budget source or the CO₂ budget units at the source for any fine, penalty, or assessment, or their obligation to comply with any other remedy, for the same violation, as ordered under applicable state law. The following guidelines will be followed in assessing fines, penalties, or other obligations:

a. For purposes of determining the number of days of violation, if a CO₂ budget source has excess emissions for a control period, each day in the control period constitutes a day in violation unless the owners and operators of the unit demonstrate that a lesser number of days should be considered.

b. Each ton of excess emissions is a separate violation.

c. For purposes of determining the number of days of violation, if a CO₂ budget source has excess interim emissions for an interim control period, each day in the interim control period constitutes a day in violation unless the owners and operators of the unit demonstrate that a lesser number of days should be considered.

d. Each ton of excess interim emissions is a separate violation.

3. The propriety of the department's determination that a CO₂ budget source had excess emissions and the concomitant deduction of CO₂ allowances from that CO₂ budget source's account may be later challenged in the context of the initial administrative enforcement, or any civil or criminal judicial action arising from or encompassing that excess emissions violation. The commencement or pendency of any administrative enforcement, or civil or criminal judicial action arising from or encompassing that excess emissions violation will not act to prevent the department or its agent from initially deducting the CO₂ allowances resulting from the department's original determination that the relevant CO₂ budget source has had excess emissions. Should the department's determination of the existence or extent of the CO₂ budget source's excess emissions be revised either by a settlement or final conclusion of any administrative or judicial action, the department will act as follows:

a. In any instance where the department's determination of the extent of excess emissions was too low, the department will take further action under subdivisions 1 and 2 of this subsection to address the expanded violation.

b. In any instance where the department's determination of the extent of excess emissions was too high, the department will distribute to the relevant CO₂ budget source a number of CO₂ allowances equaling the number of CO₂ allowances deducted which are attributable to the difference between the original and final quantity of excess emissions. Should such CO₂ budget source's compliance account no longer exist, the CO₂ allowances will be provided to a general account selected by the owner or operator of the CO₂ budget source from which they were originally deducted.

E. The department or its agent will record in the appropriate compliance account all deductions from such an account pursuant to subsections B and D of this section.

F. Action by the department on submissions shall be as follows:

1. The department may review and conduct independent audits concerning any submission under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program and make appropriate adjustments of the information in the submissions.

2. The department may deduct CO₂ allowances from or transfer CO₂ allowances to a source's compliance account based on information in the submissions, as adjusted under subdivision 1 of this subsection.

9VAC5-140-6270. Banking.

Each CO₂ allowance that is held in a compliance account or a general account will remain in such account unless and until the CO₂ allowance is deducted or transferred under 9VAC5-140-6180, 9VAC5-140-6260, 9VAC5-140-6280, or Article 7 (9VAC5-140-6300 et seq.) of this part.

9VAC5-140-6280. Account error.

The department or its agent may, at its sole discretion and on its own motion, correct any error in any COATS account. Within 10 business days of making such correction, the department or its agent will notify the CO₂ authorized account representative for the account.

9VAC5-140-6290. Closing of general accounts.

A. A CO₂ authorized account representative of a general account may instruct the department or its agent to close the account by submitting a statement requesting deletion of the account from the COATS and by correctly submitting for recordation under 9VAC5-140-6300 a CO₂ allowance transfer of all CO₂ allowances in the account to one or more other COATS accounts.

B. If a general account shows no activity for a period of one year or more and does not contain any CO₂ allowances, the department or its agent may notify the CO₂ authorized account representative for the account that the account will be closed in the COATS 30 business days after the notice is sent. The account will be closed after the 30-day period unless before the end of the 30-day period the department or its agent receives a correctly submitted transfer of CO₂ allowances into the account under 9VAC5-140-6300 or a statement submitted by the CO₂ authorized account representative demonstrating to the satisfaction of the department or its agent good cause as to why the account should not be closed. The department or its agent will have sole discretion to determine if the owner or operator of the unit demonstrated that the account should not be closed.

Article 7
CO₂ Allowance Transfers

9VAC5-140-6300. Submission of CO₂ allowance transfers.

The CO₂ authorized account representatives seeking recordation of a CO₂ allowance transfer shall submit the transfer to the department or its agent. To be considered correctly submitted, the CO₂ allowance transfer shall include the following elements in a format specified by the department or its agent:

1. The numbers identifying both the transferor and transferee accounts;

2. A specification by serial number of each CO₂ allowance to be transferred;

3. The printed name and signature of the CO₂ authorized account representative of the transferor account and the date signed;

4. The date of the completion of the last sale or purchase transaction for the allowance, if any; and

5. The purchase or sale price of the allowance that is the subject of a sale or purchase transaction under subdivision 4 of this section.

9VAC5-140-6310. Recordation.

A. Within five business days of receiving a CO₂ allowance transfer, except as provided in subsection B of this section, the department or its agent will record a CO₂ allowance transfer by moving each CO₂ allowance from the transferor account to the transferee account as specified by the request, provided that:

1. The transfer is correctly submitted under 9VAC5-140-6300; and

2. The transferor account includes each CO₂ allowance identified by serial number in the transfer.

B. A CO₂ allowance transfer into or out of a compliance account that is submitted for recordation following the CO₂ allowance transfer deadline and that includes any CO₂ allowances that are of allocation years that fall within a control period prior to or the same as the control period to which the CO₂ allowance transfer deadline applies will not be recorded until after completion of the process pursuant to 9VAC5-140-6260 B.

C. Where a CO₂ allowance transfer submitted for recordation fails to meet the requirements of subsection A of this section, the department or its agent will not record such transfer.

9VAC5-140-6320. Notification.

A. Within five business days of recordation of a CO₂ allowance transfer under 9VAC5-140-6310, the department or its agent will notify each party to the transfer. Notice will be given to the CO₂ authorized account representatives of both the transferor and transferee accounts.

B. Within 10 business days of receipt of a CO₂ allowance transfer that fails to meet the requirements of 9VAC5-140-6310 A, the department or its agent will notify the CO₂ authorized account representatives of both accounts subject to the transfer of (i) a decision not to record the transfer and (ii) the reasons for such nonrecordation.

C. Nothing in this section shall preclude the submission of a CO₂ allowance transfer for recordation following notification of nonrecordation.

Article 8
Monitoring, Reporting, and Recordkeeping

9VAC5-140-6330. General requirements.

A. The owners and operators, and to the extent applicable, the CO₂ authorized account representative of a CO₂ budget unit shall comply with the monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements as provided in this section and all applicable sections of 40 CFR Part 75. Where referenced in this article, the monitoring requirements of 40 CFR Part 75 shall be adhered to in a manner consistent with the purpose of monitoring and reporting CO₂ mass emissions pursuant to this part. For purposes of complying with such requirements, the definitions in 9VAC5-140-6020 and in 40 CFR 72.2 shall apply, and the terms "affected unit," "designated representative," and "CEMS" in 40 CFR Part 75 shall be replaced by the terms "CO₂ budget unit," "CO₂ authorized account representative," and "CEMS," respectively, as defined in 9VAC5-140-6020. For units not subject to an acid rain emissions limitation, the term "administrator" in 40 CFR Part 75 shall be replaced with "the department or its agent." Owners or operators of a CO₂ budget unit who monitor a non-CO₂ budget unit pursuant to the common, multiple, or bypass stack procedures in 40 CFR 75.72(b)(2)(ii), or 40 CFR 75.16 (b)(2)(ii)(B) pursuant to 40 CFR 75.13, for purposes of complying with this part, shall monitor and report CO₂ mass emissions from such non-CO₂ budget [ unit units ] according to the procedures for CO₂ budget units established in this article.

B. The owner or operator of each CO₂ budget unit shall meet the following general requirements for installation, certification, and data accounting.

1. Install all monitoring systems necessary to monitor CO₂ mass emissions in accordance with 40 CFR Part 75, except for equation G-1. Equation G-1 in Appendix G shall not be used to determine CO₂ emissions under this part. This may require systems to monitor CO₂ concentration, stack gas flow rate, O₂ concentration, heat input, and fuel flow rate.

2. Successfully complete all certification tests required under 9VAC5-140-6340 and meet all other requirements of this section and 40 CFR Part 75 applicable to the monitoring systems under subdivision 1 of this subsection.

3. Record, report, and quality-assure the data from the monitoring systems under subdivision 1 of this subsection.

C. The owner or operator shall meet the monitoring system certification and other requirements of subsection B of this section on or before the following dates. The owner or operator shall record, report, and quality-assure the data from the monitoring systems under subdivision B 1 of this section on and after the following dates:

1. The owner or operator of a CO₂ budget unit, except for a CO₂ budget unit under subdivision 2 of this subsection, shall comply with the requirements of this section by January 1, 2020.

2. The owner or operator of a CO₂ budget unit that commences commercial operation July 1, 2020, shall comply with the requirements of this section by (i) January 1, 2021, or (ii) the earlier of 90 unit operating days after the date on which the unit commences commercial operation [ , ] or 180 calendar days after the date on which the unit commences commercial operation.

3. For the owner or operator of a CO₂ budget unit for which construction of a new stack or flue installation is completed after the applicable deadline under subdivision 1 or 2 of this subsection by the earlier of (i) 90 unit operating days after the date on which emissions first exit to the atmosphere through the new stack or flue or (ii) 180 calendar days after the date on which emissions first exit to the atmosphere through the new stack or flue.

D. Data shall be reported as follows:

1. Except as provided in subdivision 2 of this subsection, the owner or operator of a CO₂ budget unit that does not meet the applicable compliance date set forth in subsection C of this section for any monitoring system under subdivision B 1 of this section shall, for each such monitoring system, determine, record, and report maximum potential, or as appropriate minimum potential, values for CO₂ concentration, CO₂ emissions rate, stack gas moisture content, fuel flow rate, heat input, and any other parameter required to determine CO₂ mass emissions in accordance with 40 CFR 75.31(b)(2) or (c)(3) or Section 2.4 of Appendix D of 40 CFR Part 75 as applicable.

2. The owner or operator of a CO₂ budget unit that does not meet the applicable compliance date set forth in subdivision C 3 of this section for any monitoring system under subdivision B 1 of this section shall, for each such monitoring system, determine, record, and report substitute data using the applicable missing data procedures in Subpart D, or Appendix D of 40 CFR Part 75, in lieu of the maximum potential, or as appropriate minimum potential, values for a parameter if the owner or operator demonstrates that there is continuity between the data streams for that parameter before and after the construction or installation under subdivision C 3 of this section.

a. CO₂ budget units subject to an acid rain emissions limitation or CSAPR NO_X Ozone Season Trading Program that qualify for the optional SO₂, NO_X, and CO₂ (for acid rain) or NO_X (for CSAPR NO_X Ozone Season Trading Program) emissions calculations for low mass emissions (LME) units under 40 CFR 75.19 and report emissions for such programs using the calculations under 40 CFR 75.19, shall also use the CO₂ emissions calculations for LME units under 40 CFR 75.19 for purposes of compliance with these regulations.

b. CO₂ budget units subject to an acid rain emissions limitation that do not qualify for the optional SO₂, NO_X, and CO₂ (for acid rain) or NO_X (for CSAPR NO_X Ozone Season Trading Program) emissions calculations for LME units under 40 CFR 75.19 shall not use the CO₂ emissions calculations for LME units under 40 CFR 75.19 for purposes of compliance with these regulations.

c. CO₂ budget units not subject to an acid rain emissions limitation shall qualify for the optional CO₂ emissions calculation for LME units under 40 CFR 75.19, provided that they emit less than 100 tons of NO_X annually and no more than 25 tons of SO₂ annually.

3. The owner or operator of a CO₂ budget unit shall report net-electric output data to the department as required by Article 5 (9VAC5-140-6190 et seq.) of this part.

E. Prohibitions shall be as follows.

1. No owner or operator of a CO₂ budget unit shall use any alternative monitoring system, alternative reference method, or any other alternative for the required CEMS without having obtained prior written approval in accordance with 9VAC5-140-6380.

2. No owner or operator of a CO₂ budget unit shall operate the unit so as to discharge, or allow to be discharged, CO₂ emissions to the atmosphere without accounting for all such emissions in accordance with the applicable provisions of this article and 40 CFR Part 75.

3. No owner or operator of a CO₂ budget unit shall disrupt the CEMS, any portion thereof, or any other approved emissions monitoring method, and thereby avoid monitoring and recording CO₂ mass emissions discharged into the atmosphere, except for periods of recertification or periods when calibration, quality assurance testing, or maintenance is performed in accordance with the applicable provisions of this article and 40 CFR Part 75.

4. No owner or operator of a CO₂ budget unit shall retire or permanently discontinue use of the CEMS, any component thereof, or any other approved emissions monitoring system under this article, except under any one of the following circumstances:

a. The owner or operator is monitoring emissions from the unit with another certified monitoring system approved, in accordance with the applicable provisions of this article and 40 CFR Part 75, by the department for use at that unit that provides emissions data for the same pollutant or parameter as the retired or discontinued monitoring system; or

b. The CO₂ authorized account representative submits notification of the date of certification testing of a replacement monitoring system in accordance with 9VAC5-140-6340 D 3 a.

9VAC5-140-6340. Initial certification and recertification procedures.

A. The owner or operator of a CO₂ budget unit shall be exempt from the initial certification requirements of this section for a monitoring system under 9VAC5-140-6330 B 1 if the following conditions are met:

1. The monitoring system has been previously certified in accordance with 40 CFR Part 75; and

2. The applicable quality-assurance and quality-control requirements of 40 CFR 75.21 and Appendix B and Appendix D of 40 CFR Part 75 are fully met for the certified monitoring system described in subdivision 1 of this subsection.

B. The recertification provisions of this section shall apply to a monitoring system under 9VAC5-140-6330 B 1 exempt from initial certification requirements under subsection A of this section.

C. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, if the administrator has previously approved a petition under 40 CFR 75.72(b)(2)(ii), or 40 CFR 75.16(b)(2)(ii)(B) as pursuant to 40 CFR 75.13 for apportioning the CO₂ emissions rate measured in a common stack or a petition under 40 CFR 75.66 for an alternative requirement in 40 CFR Part 75, the CO₂ authorized account representative shall submit the petition to the department under 9VAC5-140-6380 A to determine whether the approval applies under this program.

D. Except as provided in subsection A of this section, the owner or operator of a CO₂ budget unit shall comply with the following initial certification and recertification procedures for a CEMS and an excepted monitoring system under Appendix D of 40 CFR Part 75 and under 9VAC5-140-6330 B 1. The owner or operator of a unit that qualifies to use the low mass emissions excepted monitoring methodology in 40 CFR 75.19 or that qualifies to use an alternative monitoring system under Subpart E of 40 CFR Part 75 shall comply with the procedures in subsection E or F of this section, respectively.

1. For initial certification, the owner or operator shall ensure that each CEMS required under 9VAC5-140-6330 B 1, which includes the automated DAHS, successfully completes all of the initial certification testing required under 40 CFR 75.20 by the applicable deadlines specified in 9VAC5-140-6330 C. In addition, whenever the owner or operator installs a monitoring system to meet the requirements of this article in a location where no such monitoring system was previously installed, initial certification in accordance with 40 CFR 75.20 is required.

2. For recertification, the following requirements shall apply.

a. Whenever the owner or operator makes a replacement, modification, or change in a certified CEMS under 9VAC5-140-6330 B 1 that the administrator or the department determines significantly affects the ability of the system to accurately measure or record CO₂ mass emissions or to meet the quality-assurance and quality-control requirements of 40 CFR 75.21 or Appendix B to 40 CFR Part 75, the owner or operator shall recertify the monitoring system according to 40 CFR 75.20(b).

b. For systems using stack measurements such as stack flow, stack moisture content, CO₂ or O₂ monitors, whenever the owner or operator makes a replacement, modification, or change to the flue gas handling system or the unit's operation that the administrator or the department determines to significantly change the flow or concentration profile, the owner or operator shall recertify the CEMS according to 40 CFR 75.20(b). Examples of changes that require recertification include replacement of the analyzer, change in location or orientation of the sampling probe or site, or change of flow rate monitor polynomial coefficients.

3. The approval process for initial certifications and recertification shall be as follows: [ Subdivisions subdivisions ] 3 a through 3 d of this subsection apply to both initial certification and recertification of a monitoring system under 9VAC5-140-6330 B 1. For recertifications, replace the words "certification" and "initial certification" with the word "recertification," replace the word "certified" with "recertified," and proceed in the manner prescribed in 40 CFR 75.20(b)(5) and (g)(7) in lieu of subdivision 3 e of this subsection.

a. The CO₂ authorized account representative shall submit to the department or its agent, the appropriate EPA Regional Office and the administrator a written notice of the dates of certification in accordance with 9VAC5-140-6360.

b. The CO₂ authorized account representative shall submit to the department or its agent a certification application for each monitoring system. A complete certification application shall include the information specified in 40 CFR 75.63.

c. The provisional certification date for a monitor shall be determined in accordance with 40 CFR 75.20(a)(3). A provisionally certified monitor may be used under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program for a period not to exceed 120 days after receipt by the department of the complete certification application for the monitoring system or component thereof under subdivision 3 b of this subsection. Data measured and recorded by the provisionally certified monitoring system or component thereof, in accordance with the requirements of 40 CFR Part 75, will be considered valid quality-assured data, retroactive to the date and time of provisional certification, provided that the department does not invalidate the provisional certification by issuing a notice of disapproval within 120 days of receipt of the complete certification application by the department.

d. The department will issue a written notice of approval or disapproval of the certification application to the owner or operator within 120 days of receipt of the complete certification application under subdivision 3 b of this subsection. In the event the department does not issue such a notice within such 120-day period, each monitoring system that meets the applicable performance requirements of 40 CFR Part 75 and is included in the certification application will be deemed certified for use under the CO₂ Budget Trading Program.

(1) If the certification application is complete and shows that each monitoring system meets the applicable performance requirements of 40 CFR Part 75, then the department will issue a written notice of approval of the certification application within 120 days of receipt.

(2) If the certification application is incomplete, then the department will issue a written notice of incompleteness that sets a reasonable date by which the CO₂ authorized account representative shall submit the additional information required to complete the certification application. If the CO₂ authorized account representative does not comply with the notice of incompleteness by the specified date, then the department may issue a notice of disapproval under subdivision 3 d (3) of this subsection. The 120-day review period shall not begin before receipt of a complete certification application.

(3) If the certification application shows that any monitoring system or component thereof does not meet the performance requirements of 40 CFR Part 75, or if the certification application is incomplete and the requirement for disapproval under subdivision 3 d (2) of this subsection is met, then the department will issue a written notice of disapproval of the certification application. Upon issuance of such notice of disapproval, the provisional certification is invalidated by the department and the data measured and recorded by each uncertified monitoring system or component thereof shall not be considered valid quality assured data beginning with the date and hour of provisional certification. The owner or operator shall follow the procedures for loss of certification in subdivision 3 e of this subsection for each monitoring system or component thereof, which is disapproved for initial certification.

(4) The department may issue a notice of disapproval of the certification status of a monitor in accordance with 9VAC5-140-6350 B.

e. If the department issues a notice of disapproval of a certification application under subdivision 3 d (3) of this subsection or a notice of disapproval of certification status under subdivision 3 d (3) of this subsection, then:

(1) The owner or operator shall substitute the following values for each disapproved monitoring system, for each hour of unit operation during the period of invalid data beginning with the date and hour of provisional certification and continuing until the time, date, and hour specified under 40 CFR 75.20(a)(5)(i) or 40 CFR 75.20(g)(7): (i) for units using or intending to monitor for CO₂ mass emissions using heat input or for units using the low mass emissions excepted methodology under 40 CFR 75.19, the maximum potential hourly heat input of the unit; or (ii) for units intending to monitor for CO₂ mass emissions using a CO₂ pollutant concentration monitor and a flow monitor, the maximum potential concentration of CO₂ and the maximum potential flow rate of the unit under Section 2.1 of Appendix A of 40 CFR Part 75.

(2) The CO₂ authorized account representative shall submit a notification of certification retest dates and a new certification application in accordance with subdivisions 3 a and 3 b of this subsection; and

(3) The owner or operator shall repeat all certification tests or other requirements that were failed by the monitoring system, as indicated in the department's notice of disapproval, no later than 30 unit operating days after the date of issuance of the notice of disapproval.

E. The owner or operator of a unit qualified to use the low mass emissions excepted methodology under 9VAC5-140-6330 D 3 shall meet the applicable certification and recertification requirements of 40 CFR 75.19(a)(2), 40 CFR 75.20(h), and this section. If the owner or operator of such a unit elects to certify a fuel flow meter system for heat input determinations, the owner or operator shall also meet the certification and recertification requirements in 40 CFR 75.20(g).

F. The CO₂ authorized account of each unit for which the owner or operator intends to use an alternative monitoring system approved by the administrator and, if applicable, the department under Subpart E of 40 CFR Part 75 shall comply with the applicable notification and application procedures of 40 CFR 75.20(f).

9VAC5-140-6350. Out-of-control periods.

A. Whenever any monitoring system fails to meet the quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) requirements or data validation requirements of 40 CFR Part 75, data shall be substituted using the applicable procedures in Subpart D or Appendix D of 40 CFR Part 75.

B. Whenever both an audit of a monitoring system and a review of the initial certification or recertification application reveal that any monitoring system should not have been certified or recertified because it did not meet a particular performance specification or other requirement under 9VAC5-140-6340 or the applicable provisions of 40 CFR Part 75, both at the time of the initial certification or recertification application submission and at the time of the audit, the department or administrator will issue a notice of disapproval of the certification status of such monitoring system. For the purposes of this subsection, an audit shall be either a field audit or an audit of any information submitted to the department or the administrator. By issuing the notice of disapproval, the department or administrator revokes prospectively the certification status of the monitoring system. The data measured and recorded by the monitoring system shall not be considered valid quality-assured data from the date of issuance of the notification of the revoked certification status until the date and time that the owner or operator completes subsequently approved initial certification or recertification tests for the monitoring system. The owner or operator shall follow the initial certification or recertification procedures in 9VAC5-140-6340 for each disapproved monitoring system.

9VAC5-140-6360. Notifications.

The CO₂ authorized account representative for a CO₂ budget unit shall submit written notice to the department and the administrator in accordance with 40 CFR 75.61.

9VAC5-140-6370. Recordkeeping and reporting.

A. The CO₂ authorized account representative shall comply with all recordkeeping and reporting requirements in this section, the applicable recordkeeping and reporting requirements under 40 CFR 75.73, and the requirements of 9VAC5-140-6080 E.

B. The owner or operator of a CO₂ budget unit shall submit a monitoring plan in the manner prescribed in 40 CFR 75.62.

C. The CO₂ authorized account representative shall submit an application to the department within 45 days after completing all CO₂ monitoring system initial certification or recertification tests required under 9VAC5-140-6340, including the information required under 40 CFR 75.63 and 40 CFR 75.53(e) and (f).

D. The CO₂ authorized account representative shall submit quarterly reports, as follows:

1. The CO₂ authorized account representative shall report the CO₂ mass emissions data for the CO₂ budget unit, in an electronic format prescribed by the department unless otherwise prescribed by the department for each calendar quarter.

2. The CO₂ authorized account representative shall submit each quarterly report to the department or its agent within 30 days following the end of the calendar quarter covered by the report. Quarterly reports shall be submitted in the manner specified in Subpart H of 40 CFR Part 75 and 40 CFR 75.64. Quarterly reports shall be submitted for each CO₂ budget unit, or group of units using a common stack, and shall include all of the data and information required in Subpart G of 40 CFR Part 75, except for opacity, heat input, NO_X, and SO₂ provisions.

3. The CO₂ authorized account representative shall submit to the department or its agent a compliance certification in support of each quarterly report based on reasonable inquiry of those persons with primary responsibility for ensuring that all of the unit's emissions are correctly and fully monitored. The certification shall state that:

a. The monitoring data submitted were recorded in accordance with the applicable requirements of this article and 40 CFR Part 75, including the quality assurance procedures and specifications;

b. For a unit with add-on CO₂ emissions controls and for all hours where data are substituted in accordance with 40 CFR 75.34(a)(1), the add-on emissions controls were operating within the range of parameters listed in the QA/QC program under Appendix B of 40 CFR Part 75 and the substitute values do not systematically underestimate CO₂ emissions; and

c. The CO₂ concentration values substituted for missing data under Subpart D of 40 CFR Part 75 do not systematically underestimate CO₂ emissions.

9VAC5-140-6380. Petitions.

A. Except as provided in subsection C of this section, the CO₂ authorized account representative of a CO₂ budget unit that is subject to an acid rain emissions limitation may submit a petition to the administrator under 40 CFR 75.66 and to the department requesting approval to apply an alternative to any requirement of 40 CFR Part 75. Application of an alternative to any requirement of 40 CFR Part 75 is in accordance with this article only to the extent that the petition is approved in writing by the administrator, and subsequently approved in writing by the department.

B. Petitions for a CO₂ budget unit that is not subject to an acid rain emissions limitation shall meet the following requirements.

1. The CO₂ authorized account representative of a CO₂ budget unit that is not subject to an acid rain emissions limitation may submit a petition to the administrator under 40 CFR 75.66 and to the department requesting approval to apply an alternative to any requirement of 40 CFR Part 75. Application of an alternative to any requirement of 40 CFR Part 75 is in accordance with this article only to the extent that the petition is approved in writing by the administrator and subsequently approved in writing by the department.

2. In the event that the administrator declines to review a petition under subdivision 1 of this subsection, the CO₂ authorized account representative of a CO₂ budget unit that is not subject to an acid rain emissions limitation may submit a petition to the department requesting approval to apply an alternative to any requirement of this article. That petition shall contain all of the relevant information specified in 40 CFR 75.66. Application of an alternative to any requirement of this article is in accordance with this article only to the extent that the petition is approved in writing by the department.

C. The CO₂ authorized account representative of a CO₂ budget unit that is subject to an acid rain emissions limitation may submit a petition to the administrator under 40 CFR 75.66 and to the department requesting approval to apply an alternative to a requirement concerning any additional CEMS required under the common stack provisions of 40 CFR 75.72 or a CO₂ concentration CEMS used under 40 CFR 75.71(a)(2). Application of an alternative to any such requirement is in accordance with this article only to the extent the petition is approved in writing by the administrator and subsequently approved in writing by the department.

9VAC5-140-6390. (Reserved.)

9VAC5-140-6400. (Reserved.)

Article 9
Auction of CO₂ CCR and ECR Allowances

9VAC5-140-6410. Purpose.

The following requirements shall apply to each allowance auction. The department or its agent may specify additional information in the auction notice for each auction. Such additional information may include the time and location of the auction, auction rules, registration deadlines, and any additional information deemed necessary or useful.

9VAC5-140-6420. General requirements.

A. The department's agent will include the following information in the auction notice for each auction:

1. The number of CO₂ allowances offered for sale at the auction, not including any CO₂ CCR allowances;

2. The number of CO₂ CCR allowances that will be offered for sale at the auction if the condition of subdivision 1 of this subsection is met;

3. The minimum reserve price for the auction;

4. The CCR trigger price for the auction;

5. The maximum number of CO₂ allowances that may be withheld from sale at the auction if the condition of subdivision D 1 of this section is met; and

6. The ECR trigger price for the auction.

B. The department's agent will follow these rules for the sale of CO₂ CCR allowances.

1. CO₂ CCR allowances shall only be sold at an auction in which total demand for allowances, above the CCR trigger price, exceeds the number of CO₂ allowances available for purchase at the auction, not including any CO₂ CCR allowances.

2. If the condition of subdivision 1 of this subsection is met at an auction, then the number of CO₂ CCR allowances offered for sale by the department or its agent at the auction shall be equal to the number of CO₂ CCR allowances in the Virginia auction account at the time of the auction.

3. After all of the CO₂ CCR allowances in the Virginia auction account have been sold in a given calendar year, no additional CO₂ CCR allowances will be sold at any auction for the remainder of that calendar year, even if the condition of subdivision 1 of this subsection is met at an auction.

4. At an auction in which CO₂ CCR allowances are sold, the reserve price for the auction shall be the CCR trigger price.

5. If the condition of subdivision 1 of this subsection is not satisfied, no CO₂ CCR allowances shall be offered for sale at the auction, and the reserve price for the auction shall be equal to the minimum reserve prices.

C. The department's agent shall implement the reserve price as follows: (i) no allowances shall be sold at any auction for a price below the reserve price for that auction and (ii) if the total demand for allowances at an auction is less than or equal to the total number of allowances made available for sale in that auction, then the auction clearing price for the auction shall be the reserve price.

D. The department's agent will meet the following rules for the withholding of CO₂ ECR allowances from an auction.

1. CO₂ ECR allowances shall only be withheld from an auction if the demand for allowances would result in an auction clearing price that is less than the ECR trigger price prior to the withholding from the auction of any ECR allowances.

2. If the condition in subdivision 1 of this subsection is met at an auction, then the maximum number of CO₂ ECR allowances that may be withheld from that auction will be equal to the quantity shown in Table 140-5B of 9VAC5-140-6210 E minus the total quantity of CO₂ ECR allowances that have been withheld from any prior auction in that calendar year. Any CO₂ ECR allowances withheld from an auction will be transferred into the Virginia ECR Account.

9VAC5-140-6430. Consignment auction.

In accordance with Article 5 (9VAC5-140-6190 et seq.) of this part, [ one quarter of the annual ] conditional [ allowances allowance allocation ] shall be consigned by the CO₂ budget source to whom they are allocated or [ the holder of a public contract with ] DMME to each auction [ on a quarterly pro rata basis ] in accordance with procedures specified by the department. At the completion of the consignment auction, a conditional allowance [ sold at auction ] shall become [ an allowance to be used for compliance purposes a CO₂ allowance ].

[ 9VAC5-140-6435. Other auction.

Notwithstanding the requirements of 9VAC5-140-6430, the department may participate in a direct auction of allowances without consignment in accordance with requirements established by the Virginia General Assembly. A "direct auction" means a CO₂ auction conducted by a CO₂ Budget Trading Program in which Virginia is a participating state. ]

[ Article 10
Program Monitoring and Review

9VAC5-140-6440. Program monitoring and review.

In conjunction with the CO₂ Budget Trading Program program monitoring and review process, the department will evaluate impacts of the program specific to Virginia, including economic, energy, and environmental impacts and impacts on vulnerable and environmental justice and underserved communities. The department will, in evaluating the impacts on environmental justice communities, including low income, minority, and tribal communities, develop and implement a plan to ensure increased participation of environmental justice communities in the review. ]

VIRGINIA WASTE MANAGEMENT BOARD

Final Regulation

Titles of Regulations: 9VAC20-81. Solid Waste Management Regulations (amending 9VAC20-81-10, 9VAC20-81-95, 9VAC20-81-250).

9VAC20-130. Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Regulations (amending 9VAC20-130-10).

Statutory Authority: 9VAC02-81-10, 9VAC20-81-95, and 9VAC20-81-250: § 10.1-1402 of the Code of Virginia; 42 USC § 6941 et seq.; 40 CFR Parts 257 and 258.

9VAC20-130-10: § 10.1-1411 of the Code of Virginia; 42 USC § 6942(b); 40 CFR Parts 255 and 256.

Effective Date: March 6, 2019.

Agency Contact: Melissa Porterfield, Department of Environmental Quality, 1111 East Main Street, Suite 1400, P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218, telephone (804) 698-4238, FAX (804) 698-4319, or email melissa.porterfield@deq.virginia.gov.

Summary:

The amendments replace the term "conditionally exempt small quantity generator" with the term "very small quantity generator" for consistency with 40 CFR 260.10, which was modified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule.

Part I
Definitions

9VAC20-81-10. Definitions.

The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Active life" means the period of operation beginning with the initial receipt of solid waste and ending at completion of closure activities required by this chapter.

"Active portion" means that part of a facility or unit that has received or is receiving wastes and that has not been closed in accordance with this chapter.

"Agricultural waste" means all solid waste produced from farming operations.

"Airport" means, for the purpose of this chapter, a military airfield or a public-use airport open to the public without prior permission and without restrictions within the physical capacities of available facilities.

"Aquifer" means a geologic formation, group of formations, or a portion of a formation capable of yielding significant quantities of groundwater to wells or springs.

"Ash" means the fly ash or bottom ash residual waste material produced from incineration or burning of solid waste or from any fuel combustion.

"Base flood" see "Hundred-year flood."

"Bedrock" means the rock that underlies soil or other unconsolidated, superficial material at a site.

"Benchmark" means a permanent monument constructed of concrete and set in the ground surface below the frostline with identifying information clearly affixed to it. Identifying information will include the designation of the benchmark as well as the elevation and coordinates on the local or Virginia state grid system.

"Beneficial use" means a use that is of benefit as a substitute for natural or commercial products and does not contribute to adverse effects on health or environment.

"Beneficial use of CCR" means the CCR meet all of the following conditions:

1. The CCR must provide a functional benefit;

2. The CCR must substitute for the use of a virgin material, conserving natural resources that would otherwise need to be obtained through practices, such as extraction;

3. The use of the CCR must meet relevant product specifications, regulatory standards, or design standards when available, and when such standards are not available, the CCR is not used in excess quantities; and

4. When unencapsulated use of CCR involving placement on the land of 12,400 tons or more in nonroadway applications, the user must demonstrate and keep records, and provide such documentation upon request, that environmental releases to groundwater, surface water, soil, and air are comparable to or lower than those from analogous products made without CCR, or that environmental releases to groundwater, surface water, soil, and air will be at or below relevant regulatory and health-based benchmarks for human and ecological receptors during use.

"Bioremediation" means remediation of contaminated media by the manipulation of biological organisms to enhance the degradation of contaminants.

"Bird hazard" means an increase in the likelihood of bird/aircraft collisions that may cause damage to the aircraft or injury to its occupants.

"Board" means the Virginia Waste Management Board.

"Bottom ash" means ash or slag that has been discharged from the bottom of the combustion unit after combustion.

"Capacity" means the maximum permitted volume of solid waste, inclusive of daily and intermediate cover, that can be disposed in a landfill. This volume is measured in cubic yards.

"Captive industrial landfill" means an industrial landfill that is located on property owned or controlled by the generator of the waste disposed of in that landfill.

"CCR landfill" means an area of land or an excavation that receives CCR and that is not a surface impoundment, an underground injection well, a salt dome formation, a salt bed formation, an underground or surface coal mine, or a cave. For purposes of this chapter, a CCR landfill also includes sand and gravel pits and quarries that receive CCR, CCR piles, and any practice that does not meet the definition of a beneficial use of CCR.

"CCR surface impoundment" means a natural topographic depression, man-made excavation, or diked area that is designed to hold an accumulation of CCR and liquids, and the unit treats, stores, or disposes of CCR.

"Clean wood" means solid waste consisting of untreated wood pieces and particles that do not contain paint, laminate, bonding agents, or chemical preservatives or are otherwise unadulterated.

"Closed facility" means a solid waste management facility that has been properly secured in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.

"Closure" means that point in time when a permitted landfill has been capped, certified as properly closed by a professional engineer, inspected by the department, and closure notification is performed by the department in accordance with 9VAC20-81-160 D.

"Coal combustion byproducts" or "CCB" means residuals, including fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and flue gas emission control waste produced by burning coal. CCB includes both CCR and other non-CCR wastes identified in this definition.

"Coal combustion residuals" or "CCR" means fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and flue gas desulfurization materials generated from burning coal for the purpose of generating electricity by electric utilities and independent power producers. CCR is a specific type of CCB.

"Combustion unit" means an incinerator, waste heat recovery unit, or boiler.

"Commercial waste" means all solid waste generated by establishments engaged in business operations other than manufacturing or construction. This category includes, but is not limited to, solid waste resulting from the operation of stores, markets, office buildings, restaurants, and shopping centers.

"Compliance schedule" means a time schedule for measures to be employed on a solid waste management facility that will ultimately upgrade it to conform to this chapter.

"Compost" means a stabilized organic product produced by a controlled aerobic decomposition process in such a manner that the product can be handled, stored, or applied to the land without adversely affecting public health or the environment.

"Composting" means the manipulation of the natural process of decomposition of organic materials to increase the rate of decomposition.

"Conditionally exempt small quantity generator" means a generator of hazardous waste who has been so defined in 40 CFR 261.5, as amended. That section applies to the persons who generate in that calendar month no more than 100 kilograms of hazardous waste or one kilogram of acutely hazardous waste.

"Construction" means the initiation of permanent physical change at a property with the intent of establishing a solid waste management unit. This does not include land-clearing activities, excavation for borrow purposes, activities intended for infrastructure purposes, or activities necessary to obtain Part A siting approval (i.e., advancing of exploratory borings, digging of test pits, groundwater monitoring well installation, etc.).

"Construction/demolition/debris landfill" or "CDD landfill" means a land burial facility engineered, constructed and operated to contain and isolate construction waste, demolition waste, debris waste, split tires, and white goods or combinations of the above solid wastes.

"Construction waste" means solid waste that is produced or generated during construction, remodeling, or repair of pavements, houses, commercial buildings, and other structures. Construction wastes include, but are not limited to lumber, wire, sheetrock, broken brick, shingles, glass, pipes, concrete, paving materials, and metal and plastics if the metal or plastics are a part of the materials of construction or empty containers for such materials. Paints, coatings, solvents, asbestos, any liquid, compressed gases or semi-liquids and garbage are not construction wastes.

"Contaminated soil" means, for the purposes of this chapter, a soil that, as a result of a release or human usage, has absorbed or adsorbed physical, chemical, or radiological substances at concentrations above those consistent with nearby undisturbed soil or natural earth materials.

"Container" means any portable device in which a material is stored, transported, treated, or otherwise handled and includes transport vehicles that are containers themselves (e.g., tank trucks) and containers placed on or in a transport vehicle.

"Containment structure" means a closed vessel such as a tank or cylinder.

"Convenience center" means a collection point for the temporary storage of solid waste provided for individual solid waste generators who choose to transport solid waste generated on their own premises to an established centralized point, rather than directly to a disposal facility. To be classified as a convenience center, the collection point may not receive waste from collection vehicles that have collected waste from more than one real property owner. A convenience center shall be on a system of regularly scheduled collections.

"Cover material" means compactable soil or other approved material that is used to blanket solid waste in a landfill.

"Daily disposal limit" means the amount of solid waste that is permitted to be disposed at the facility and shall be computed on the amount of waste disposed during any operating day.

"Debris waste" means wastes resulting from land-clearing operations. Debris wastes include, but are not limited to stumps, wood, brush, leaves, soil, and road spoils.

"Decomposed vegetative waste" means a stabilized organic product produced from vegetative waste by a controlled natural decay process in such a manner that the product can be handled, stored, or applied to the land without adversely affecting public health or the environment.

"Demolition waste" means that solid waste that is produced by the destruction of structures and their foundations and includes the same materials as construction wastes.

"Department" means the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

"Director" means the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality. For purposes of submissions to the director as specified in the Waste Management Act, submissions may be made to the department.

"Discard" means to abandon, dispose of, burn, incinerate, accumulate, store, or treat before or instead of being abandoned, disposed of, burned, or incinerated.

"Discarded material" means a material that is:

1. Abandoned by being:

a. Disposed of;

b. Burned or incinerated; or

c. Accumulated, stored, or treated (but not used, reused, or reclaimed) before or in lieu of being abandoned by being disposed of, burned, or incinerated; or

2. Recycled used, reused, or reclaimed material as defined in this part.

"Disclosure statement" means a sworn statement or affirmation as required by § 10.1-1400 of the Code of Virginia (see DEQ Form DISC-01 and 02 (Disclosure Statement)).

"Displacement" means the relative movement of any two sides of a fault measured in any direction.

"Disposal" means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any solid waste into or on any land or water so that such solid waste or any constituent of it may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters.

"Disposal unit boundary" or "DUB" means the vertical plane located at the edge of the waste disposal unit. This vertical plane extends down into the uppermost aquifer. The DUB must be positioned within or coincident to the waste management boundary.

"EPA" means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"Exempt management facility" means a site used for activities that are conditionally exempt from management as a solid waste under this chapter. The facility remains exempt from solid waste management requirements provided it complies with the applicable conditions set forth in Parts II (9VAC20-81-20 et seq.) and IV (9VAC20-81-300 et seq.) of this chapter.

"Existing CCR landfill" means a CCR landfill that receives CCR both before and after October 19, 2015, or for which construction commenced prior to October 19, 2015, and receives CCR on or after October 19, 2015. A CCR landfill has commenced construction if the owner or operator has obtained the federal, state, and local approvals or permits necessary to begin physical construction and a continuous onsite, physical construction program had begun prior to October 19, 2015.

"Existing CCR surface impoundment" means a CCR surface impoundment that receives CCR both before and after October 19, 2015, or for which construction commenced prior to October 19, 2015, and receives CCR on or after October 19, 2015. A CCR surface impoundment has commenced construction if the owner or operator has obtained the federal, state, and local approvals or permits necessary to begin physical construction and a continuous onsite, physical construction program had begun prior to October 19, 2015.

"Expansion" means a horizontal expansion of the waste management boundary as identified in the Part A application. If a facility's permit was issued prior to the establishment of the Part A process, an expansion is a horizontal expansion of the disposal unit boundary.

"Facility" means solid waste management facility unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

"Facility boundary" means the boundary of the solid waste management facility. For landfills, this boundary encompasses the waste management boundary and all ancillary activities including, but not limited to scales, groundwater monitoring wells, gas monitoring probes, and maintenance facilities as identified in the facility's permit application. For facilities with a permit-by-rule (PBR) the facility boundary is the boundary of the property where the permit-by-rule activity occurs. For unpermitted solid waste management facilities, the facility boundary is the boundary of the property line where the solid waste is located.

"Facility structure" means any building, shed, or utility or drainage line on the facility.

"Fault" means a fracture or a zone of fractures in any material along which strata on one side have been displaced with respect to that on the other side.

"Floodplain" means the lowland and relatively flat areas adjoining inland and coastal waters, including low-lying areas of offshore islands where flooding occurs.

"Fly ash" means ash particulate collected from air pollution attenuation devices on combustion units.

"Food-chain crops" means crops grown for human consumption, tobacco, and crops grown for pasture and forage or feed for animals whose products are consumed by humans.

"Fossil fuel combustion products" means coal combustion byproducts as defined in this regulation, coal combustion byproducts generated at facilities with fluidized bed combustion technology, petroleum coke combustion byproducts, byproducts from the combustion of oil, byproducts from the combustion of natural gas, and byproducts from the combustion of mixtures of coal and "other fuels" (i.e., co-burning of coal with "other fuels" where coal is at least 50% of the total fuel). For purposes of this definition, "other fuels" means waste-derived fuel product, auto shredder fluff, wood wastes, coal mill rejects, peat, tall oil, tire-derived fuel, deionizer resins, and used oil.

"Free liquids" means liquids that readily separate from the solid portion of a waste under ambient temperature and pressure as determined by the Paint Filter Liquids Test, Method 9095, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Publication SW-846.

"Garbage" means readily putrescible discarded materials composed of animal, vegetable or other organic matter.

"Gas condensate" means the liquid generated as a result of gas control or recovery processes at the solid waste management facility.

"Governmental unit" means any department, institution, or commission of the Commonwealth and any public corporate instrumentality thereof, and any district, and shall include local governments.

"Ground rubber" means material processed from waste tires that is no larger than 1/4 inch in any dimension. This includes crumb rubber that is measured in mesh sizes.

"Groundwater" means water below the land surface in a zone of saturation.

"Hazardous constituent" means a constituent of solid waste found listed in Appendix VIII of 9VAC20-60-261.

"Hazardous waste" means a "hazardous waste" as described by the Virginia Hazardous Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-60).

"Holocene" means the most recent epoch of the Quaternary period, extending from the end of the Pleistocene Epoch to the present.

"Home use" means the use of compost for growing plants that is produced and used on a privately owned residential site.

"Host agreement" means any lease, contract, agreement, or land use permit entered into or issued by the locality in which the landfill is situated that includes terms or conditions governing the operation of the landfill.

"Household hazardous waste" means any waste material derived from households (including single and multiple residences, hotels, motels, bunkhouses, ranger stations, crew quarters, campgrounds, picnic grounds, and day-use recreation areas) which, except for the fact that it is derived from a household, would otherwise be classified as a hazardous waste in accordance with 9VAC20-60.

"Household waste" means any waste material, including garbage, trash, and refuse, derived from households. Households include single and multiple residences, hotels and motels, bunkhouses, ranger stations, crew quarters, campgrounds, picnic grounds, and day-use recreation areas. Household wastes do not include sanitary waste in septic tanks (septage) that is regulated by other state agencies.

"Hundred-year flood" means a flood that has a 1.0% or greater chance of recurring in any given year or a flood of magnitude equaled or exceeded on the average only once in a hundred years on the average over a significantly long period.

"Inactive CCR surface impoundment" means a CCR surface impoundment that no longer receives CCR on or after October 19, 2015, and still contains both CCR and liquids on or after October 19, 2015.

"Incineration" means the controlled combustion of solid waste for disposal.

"Incinerator" means a facility or device designed for the treatment of solid waste by combustion.

"Industrial waste" means any solid waste generated by manufacturing or industrial process that is not a regulated hazardous waste. Such waste may include, but is not limited to, waste resulting from the following manufacturing processes: electric power generation; fertilizer/agricultural chemicals; food and related products/byproducts; inorganic chemicals; iron and steel manufacturing; leather and leather products; nonferrous metals manufacturing/foundries; organic chemicals; plastics and resins manufacturing; pulp and paper industry; rubber and miscellaneous plastic products; stone, glass, clay, and concrete products; textile manufacturing; transportation equipment; and water treatment. This term does not include mining waste or oil and gas waste.

"Industrial waste landfill" means a solid waste landfill used primarily for the disposal of a specific industrial waste or a waste that is a byproduct of a production process.

"Injection well" means, for the purposes of this chapter, a well or bore hole into which fluids are injected into selected geological horizons.

"Institutional waste" means all solid waste emanating from institutions such as, but not limited to, hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, and public or private schools. It can include regulated medical waste from health care facilities and research facilities that must be managed as a regulated medical waste.

"Interim cover systems" means temporary cover systems applied to a landfill area when landfilling operations will be temporarily suspended for an extended period (typically, longer than one year). At the conclusion of the interim period, the interim cover system may be removed and landfilling operations resume or final cover is installed.

"Karst topography" means areas where karst terrane, with its characteristic surface and subterranean features, is developed as the result of dissolution of limestone, dolomite, or other soluble rock. Characteristic physiographic features present in karst terranes include, but are not limited to, sinkholes, sinking streams, caves, large springs, and blind valleys.

"Key personnel" means the applicant itself and any person employed by the applicant in a managerial capacity, or empowered to make discretionary decisions, with respect to the solid waste or hazardous waste operations of the applicant in Virginia, but shall not include employees exclusively engaged in the physical or mechanical collection, transportation, treatment, storage, or disposal of solid or hazardous waste and such other employees as the director may designate by regulation. If the applicant has not previously conducted solid waste or hazardous waste operations in Virginia, the term also includes any officer, director, partner of the applicant, or any holder of 5.0% or more of the equity or debt of the applicant. If any holder of 5.0% or more of the equity or debt of the applicant or of any key personnel is not a natural person, the term includes all key personnel of that entity, provided that where such entity is a chartered lending institution or a reporting company under the Federal Security and Exchange Act of 1934, the term does not include key personnel of such entity. Provided further that the term means the chief executive officer of any agency of the United States or of any agency or political subdivision of the Commonwealth, and all key personnel of any person, other than a natural person, that operates a landfill or other facility for the disposal, treatment, or storage of nonhazardous solid waste under contract with or for one of those governmental entities.

"Lagoon" means a body of water or surface impoundment designed to manage or treat waste water.

"Land-clearing activities" means the removal of flora from a parcel of land.

"Land-clearing debris" means vegetative waste resulting from land-clearing activities.

"Landfill" means a sanitary landfill, an industrial waste landfill, or a construction/demolition/debris landfill.

"Landfill gas" means gas generated as a byproduct of the decomposition of organic materials in a landfill. Landfill gas consists primarily of methane and carbon dioxide.

"Landfill mining" means the process of excavating solid waste from an existing landfill.

"Leachate" means a liquid that has passed through or emerged from solid waste and contains soluble, suspended, or miscible materials from such waste. Leachate and any material with which it is mixed is solid waste; except that leachate that is pumped from a collection tank for transportation to disposal in an offsite facility is regulated as septage, leachate discharged into a waste water collection system is regulated as industrial waste water and leachate that has contaminated groundwater is regulated as contaminated groundwater.

"Lead acid battery" means, for the purposes of this chapter, any wet cell battery.

"Lift" means the daily landfill layer of compacted solid waste plus the cover material.

"Liquid waste" means any waste material that is determined to contain "free liquids" as defined by this chapter.

"Lithified earth material" means all rock, including all naturally occurring and naturally formed aggregates or masses of minerals or small particles of older rock, that formed by crystallization of magma or by induration of loose sediments. This term does not include man-made materials, such as fill, concrete, and asphalt, or unconsolidated earth materials, soil, or regolith lying at or near the earth's surface.

"Litter" means, for purposes of this chapter, any solid waste that is discarded or scattered about a solid waste management facility outside the immediate working area.

"Lower explosive limit" means the lowest concentration by volume of a mixture of explosive gases in air that will propagate a flame at 25°C and at atmospheric pressure.

"Materials recovery facility" means a solid waste management facility for the collection, processing, and recovery of material such as metals from solid waste or for the production of a fuel from solid waste. This does not include the production of a waste-derived fuel product.

"Maximum horizontal acceleration in lithified earth material" means the maximum expected horizontal acceleration depicted on a seismic hazard map, with a 90% or greater probability that the acceleration will not be exceeded in 250 years, or the maximum expected horizontal acceleration based on a site-specific seismic risk assessment.

"Monitoring" means all methods, procedures, and techniques used to systematically analyze, inspect, and collect data on operational parameters of the facility or on the quality of air, groundwater, surface water, and soils.

"Monitoring well" means a well point below the ground surface for the purpose of obtaining periodic water samples from groundwater for quantitative and qualitative analysis.

"Mulch" means woody waste consisting of stumps, trees, limbs, branches, bark, leaves and other clean wood waste that has undergone size reduction by grinding, shredding, or chipping, and is distributed to the general public for landscaping purposes or other horticultural uses except composting as defined and regulated under this chapter.

"Municipal solid waste" means that waste that is normally composed of residential, commercial, and institutional solid waste and residues derived from combustion of these wastes.

"New CCR landfill" means a CCR landfill or lateral expansion of a CCR landfill that first receives CCR or commences construction after October 19, 2015. A new CCR landfill has commenced construction if the owner or operator has obtained the federal, state, and local approvals or permits necessary to begin physical construction and a continuous onsite, physical construction program had begun after October 19, 2015. Overfills are also considered new CCR landfills.

"New CCR surface impoundment" means a CCR surface impoundment or lateral expansion of an existing or new CCR surface impoundment that first receives CCR or commences construction after October 19, 2015. A new CCR surface impoundment has commenced construction if the owner or operator has obtained the federal, state, and local approvals or permits necessary to begin physical construction and a continuous onsite, physical construction program had begun after October 19, 2015.

"New solid waste management facility" means a facility or a portion of a facility that was not included in a previous determination of site suitability (Part A approval).

"Nuisance" means an activity that unreasonably interferes with an individual's or the public's comfort, convenience or enjoyment such that it interferes with the rights of others by causing damage, annoyance, or inconvenience.

"Offsite" means any site that does not meet the definition of onsite as defined in this part.

"Onsite" means the same or geographically contiguous property, which may be divided by public or private right-of-way, provided the entrance and exit to the facility are controlled by the owner or the operator of the facility. Noncontiguous properties owned by the same person, but connected by a right-of-way that he controls and to which the public does not have access, are also considered onsite property.

"Open burning" means the combustion of solid waste without:

1. Control of combustion air to maintain adequate temperature for efficient combustion;

2. Containment of the combustion reaction in an enclosed device to provide sufficient residence time and mixing for complete combustion; and

3. Control of the combustion products' emission.

"Open dump" means a site on which any solid waste is placed, discharged, deposited, injected, dumped, or spilled so as to present a threat of a release of harmful substances into the environment or present a hazard to human health. Such a site is subject to the Open Dump Criteria in 9VAC20-81-45.

"Operating record" means records required to be maintained in accordance with the facility permit or this part (see 9VAC20-81-530).

"Operation" means all waste management activities at a solid waste management facility beginning with the initial receipt of solid waste for treatment, storage, disposal, or transfer and ceasing with the initiation of final closure activities at the solid waste management facility subsequent to the final receipt of waste.

"Operator" means the person responsible for the overall operation and site management of a solid waste management facility.

"Owner" means the person who owns a solid waste management facility or part of a solid waste management facility.

"PCB" means any chemical substance that is limited to the biphenyl molecule that has been chlorinated to varying degrees or any combination of substances that contain such substance (see 40 CFR 761.3, as amended).

"Perennial stream" means a well-defined channel that contains water year round during a year of normal rainfall. Generally, the water table is located above the streambed for most of the year and groundwater is the primary source for stream flow. A perennial stream exhibits the typical biological, hydrological, and physical characteristics commonly associated with the continuous conveyance of water.

"Permit" means the written permission of the director to own, operate, or construct a solid waste management facility.

"Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, a governmental body, a municipal corporation, or any other legal entity.

"Point source" means any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, vessel, or other floating craft, from which pollutants are or may be discharged. Return flows from irrigated agriculture are not included.

"Pollutant" means any substance that causes or contributes to, or may cause or contribute to, environmental degradation when discharged into the environment.

"Poor foundation conditions" means those areas where features exist that indicate that a natural or man-induced event may result in inadequate foundation support for the structural components of a solid waste management facility.

"Postclosure" means the requirements placed upon solid waste disposal facilities after closure to ensure environmental and public health safety for a specified number of years after closure.

"Process rate" means the maximum rate of waste acceptance that a solid waste management facility can process for treatment and storage. This rate is limited by the capabilities of equipment, personnel, and infrastructure.

"Processing" means preparation, treatment, or conversion of waste by a series of actions, changes, or functions that bring about a desired end result.

"Professional engineer" means an engineer licensed to practice engineering in the Commonwealth as defined by the rules and regulations set forth by the Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (18VAC10-20).

"Professional geologist" means a geologist licensed to practice geology in the Commonwealth as defined by the rules and regulations set forth by the Board for Professional Soil Scientists, Wetland Professionals, and Geologists (18VAC145-40).

"Progressive cover" means cover material placed over the working face of a solid waste disposal facility advancing over the deposited waste as new wastes are added keeping the exposed area to a minimum.

"Putrescible waste" means solid waste that contains organic material capable of being decomposed by micro-organisms and cause odors.

"Qualified groundwater scientist" means a scientist or engineer who has received a baccalaureate or postgraduate degree in the natural sciences or engineering and has sufficient training and experience in groundwater hydrology and related fields as may be demonstrated by professional certifications or completion of accredited university programs that enable that individual to make sound professional judgments regarding groundwater monitoring, contaminant fate and transport, and corrective action.

"RCRA" means the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (42 USC § 6901 et seq.), the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984, and any other applicable amendments to these laws.

"Reclaimed material" means a material that is processed or reprocessed to recover a usable product or is regenerated to a usable form.

"Refuse" means all solid waste products having the character of solids rather than liquids and that are composed wholly or partially of materials such as garbage, trash, rubbish, litter, residues from clean up of spills or contamination, or other discarded materials.

"Refuse-derived fuel (RDF)" means a type of municipal solid waste produced by processing municipal solid waste through shredding and size classification. This includes all classes of refuse-derived fuel including low-density fluff refuse-derived fuel through densified refuse-derived fuel and pelletized refuse-derived fuel.

"Regulated hazardous waste" means a solid waste that is a hazardous waste, as defined in the Virginia Hazardous Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-60), that is not excluded from those regulations as a hazardous waste.

"Regulated medical waste" means solid wastes so defined by the Regulated Medical Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-120) as promulgated by the Virginia Waste Management Board.

"Release" means, for the purpose of this chapter, any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injection, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the environment solid wastes or hazardous constituents of solid wastes (including the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers, and other closed receptacles containing solid waste). This definition does not include any release that results in exposure to persons solely within a workplace; release of source, byproduct, or special nuclear material from a nuclear incident, as those terms are defined in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (68 Stat. 923); and the normal application of fertilizer. For the purpose of this chapter, release also means substantial threat of release.

"Remediation waste" means all solid waste, including all media (groundwater, surface water, soils, and sediments) and debris, that are managed for the purpose of remediating a site in accordance with 9VAC20-81-45 or Part III (9VAC20-81-100 et seq.) of this chapter or under the Voluntary Remediation Regulations (9VAC20-160) or other regulated remediation program under DEQ oversight. For a given facility, remediation wastes may originate only from within the boundary of that facility, and may include wastes managed as a result of remediation beyond the boundary of the facility. Hazardous wastes as defined in 9VAC20-60, as well as "new" or "as generated" wastes, are excluded from this definition.

"Remediation waste management unit" or "RWMU" means an area within a facility that is designated by the director for the purpose of implementing remedial activities required under this chapter or otherwise approved by the director. An RWMU shall only be used for the management of remediation wastes pursuant to implementing such remedial activities at the facility.

"Responsible official" means one of the following:

1. For a business entity, such as a corporation, association, limited liability company, or cooperative: a duly authorized representative of such business entity if the representative is responsible for the overall operation of one or more operating facilities applying for or subject to a permit. The authority to sign documents must be assigned or delegated to such representative in accordance with procedures of the business entity;

2. For a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or the proprietor, respectively; or

3. For a municipality, state, federal, or other public agency: a duly authorized representative of the locality if the representative is responsible for the overall operation of one or more operating facilities applying for or subject to a permit. The authority to sign documents must be assigned or delegated to such representative in accordance with procedures of the locality.

"Rubbish" means combustible or slowly putrescible discarded materials that include but are not limited to trees, wood, leaves, trimmings from shrubs or trees, printed matter, plastic and paper products, grass, rags and other combustible or slowly putrescible materials not included under the term "garbage."

"Runoff" means any rainwater, leachate, or other liquid that drains over land from any part of a solid waste management facility.

"Run-on" means any rainwater, wastewater, leachate, or other liquid that drains over land onto any part of the solid waste management facility.

"Salvage" means the authorized, controlled removal of waste materials from a solid waste management facility.

"Sanitary landfill" means an engineered land burial facility for the disposal of household waste that is so located, designed, constructed, and operated to contain and isolate the waste so that it does not pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment. A sanitary landfill also may receive other types of solid wastes, such as commercial solid waste, nonhazardous sludge, hazardous waste from conditionally exempt very small quantity generators, construction demolition debris, and nonhazardous industrial solid waste.

"Saturated zone" means that part of the earth's crust in which all voids are filled with water.

"Scavenging" means the unauthorized or uncontrolled removal of waste materials from a solid waste management facility.

"Scrap metal" means metal parts such as bars, rods, wire, empty containers, or metal pieces that are discarded material and can be used, reused, or reclaimed.

"Secondary containment" means an enclosure into which a container or tank is placed for the purpose of preventing discharge of wastes to the environment.

"Seismic impact zone" means an area with a 10% or greater probability that the maximum horizontal acceleration in lithified earth material, expressed as a percentage of the earth's gravitational pull (g), will exceed 0.10g in 250 years.

"Semiannual" means an interval corresponding to approximately 180 days. For the purposes of scheduling monitoring activities, sampling within 30 days of the 180-day interval will be considered semiannual.

"Site" means all land and structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on them used for treating, storing, and disposing of solid waste. This term includes adjacent land within the facility boundary used for the utility systems such as repair, storage, shipping or processing areas, or other areas incident to the management of solid waste.

"Sludge" means any solid, semi-solid or liquid waste generated from a municipal, commercial or industrial wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility exclusive of treated effluent from a wastewater treatment plant.

"Small landfill" means a landfill that disposed of 100 tons/day or less of solid waste during a representative period prior to October 9, 1993, and did not dispose of more than an average of 100 tons/day of solid waste each month between October 9, 1993, and April 9, 1994.

"Solid waste" means any of those materials defined as "solid waste" in 9VAC20-81-95.

"Solid waste disposal facility" means a solid waste management facility at which solid waste will remain after closure.

"Solid waste management facility" or "SWMF" means a site used for planned treating, storing, or disposing of solid waste. A facility may consist of several treatment, storage, or disposal units.

"Special wastes" means solid wastes that are difficult to handle, require special precautions because of hazardous properties, or the nature of the waste creates waste management problems in normal operations. (See Part VI (9VAC20-81-610 et seq.) of this chapter.)

"Speculatively accumulated material" means any material that is accumulated before being used, reused, or reclaimed or in anticipation of potential use, reuse, or reclamation. Materials are not being accumulated speculatively when they can be used, reused, or reclaimed, have a feasible means of use, reuse, or reclamation available and 75% of the materials accumulated are being removed from the facility annually.

"State waters" means all water, on the surface and under the ground, wholly or partially within, or bordering the Commonwealth, or within its jurisdiction.

"Storage" means the holding of waste, at the end of which the waste is treated, disposed, or stored elsewhere.

"Structural fill" means an engineered fill with a projected beneficial end use, constructed using soil or fossil fuel combustion products, when done in accordance with this chapter, spread and compacted with proper equipment, and covered with a vegetated soil cap.

"Sudden event" means a one-time, single event such as a sudden collapse or a sudden, quick release of contaminants to the environment. An example would be the sudden loss of leachate from an impoundment into a surface stream caused by failure of a containment structure.

"Surface impoundment" or "impoundment" means a facility or part of a facility that is a natural topographic depression, man-made excavation, or diked area formed primarily of earthen materials (although it may be lined with man-made materials), that is designed to hold an accumulation of liquid wastes or wastes containing free liquids and that is not an injection well.

"Surface waters" means all state waters that are not groundwater as defined in § 62.1-255 of the Code of Virginia.

"SW-846" means Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, Physical/Chemical Methods, EPA Publication SW-846, Second Edition, 1982 as amended by Update I (April, 1984), and Update II (April, 1985) and the third edition, November, 1986, as amended.

"Tank" means a stationary device, designed to contain an accumulation of liquid or semi-liquid components of solid waste that is constructed primarily of nonearthen materials that provide structural support.

"TEF" or "Toxicity Equivalency Factor" means a factor developed to account for different toxicities of structural isomers of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans and to relate them to the toxicity of 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro dibenzo-p-dioxin.

"Terminal" means the location of transportation facilities such as classification yards, docks, airports, management offices, storage sheds, and freight or passenger stations, where solid waste that is being transported may be loaded, unloaded, transferred, or temporarily stored.

"Thermal treatment" means the treatment of solid waste in a device that uses elevated temperature as the primary means to change the chemical, physical, or biological character, or composition of the solid waste.

"Tire chip" means a material processed from waste tires that is a nominal two square inches in size, and ranges from 1/4 inch to four inches in any dimension. Tire chips contain no wire protruding more than 1/4 inch.

"Tire shred" means a material processed from waste tires that is a nominal 40 square inches in size, and ranges from four inches to 10 inches in any dimension.

"Transfer station" means any solid waste storage or collection facility at which solid waste is transferred from collection vehicles to haulage vehicles for transportation to a central solid waste management facility for disposal, incineration, or resource recovery.

"Trash" means combustible and noncombustible discarded materials and is used interchangeably with the term rubbish.

"Treatment" means, for the purpose of this chapter, any method, technique, or process, including but not limited to incineration, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any waste to render it more stable, safer for transport, or more amenable to use, reuse, reclamation, recovery, or disposal.

"Underground source of drinking water" means an aquifer or its portion:

1. Which contains water suitable for human consumption; or

2. In which the groundwater contains less than 10,000 mg/liter total dissolved solids.

"Unit" means a discrete area of land used for the disposal of solid waste.

"Unstable area" means a location that is susceptible to natural or human-induced events or forces capable of impairing the integrity of some or all of the landfill structural components responsible for preventing releases from a landfill. Unstable areas can include poor foundation conditions, areas susceptible to mass movements, and karst terranes.

"Uppermost aquifer" means the geologic formation nearest the natural ground surface that is an aquifer, as well as, lower aquifers that are hydraulically interconnected with this aquifer within the facility boundary.

"Used or reused material" means a material that is either:

1. Employed as an ingredient (including use as an intermediate) in a process to make a product, excepting those materials possessing distinct components that are recovered as separate end products; or

2. Employed in a particular function or application as an effective substitute for a commercial product or natural resources.

"Vector" means a living animal, insect, or other arthropod that transmits an infectious disease from one organism to another.

"Vegetative waste" means decomposable materials generated by yard and lawn care or land-clearing activities and includes, but is not limited to, leaves, grass trimmings, woody wastes such as shrub and tree prunings, bark, limbs, roots, and stumps.

"Vermicomposting" means the controlled and managed process by which live worms convert organic residues into fertile excrement.

"Vertical design capacity" means the maximum design elevation specified in the facility's permit or if none is specified in the permit, the maximum elevation based on a 3:1 slope from the waste disposal unit boundary.

"Very small quantity generator" means a generator of hazardous waste as defined in 40 CFR 260.10 as incorporated by reference in 9VAC20-60-260 that generates less than or equal to the following amounts in a calendar month: (i) 100 kilograms of nonacute hazardous waste; (ii) one kilogram of acute hazardous waste; and (iii) 100 kilograms of any residue or contaminated soil, water, or other debris resulting from the cleanup of a spill into or on any land or water of acute hazardous waste.

"VPDES" (Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) means the Virginia system for the issuance of permits pursuant to the Permit Regulation (9VAC25-31), the State Water Control Law (§ 62.1-44.2 et seq. of the Code of Virginia), and § 402 of the Clean Water Act (33 USC § 1251 et seq.).

"Washout" means carrying away of solid waste by waters of the base flood.

"Waste-derived fuel product" means a solid waste or combination of solid wastes that have been treated (altered physically, chemically, or biologically) to produce a fuel product with a minimum heating value of 5,000 BTU/lb. Solid wastes used to produce a waste-derived fuel product must have a heating value, or act as binders, and may not be added to the fuel for the purpose of disposal. Waste ingredients may not be listed or characteristic hazardous wastes. The fuel product must be stable at ambient temperature, and not degraded by exposure to the elements. This material may not be "refuse derived fuel (RDF)" as defined in 9VAC5-40-890.

"Waste management boundary" means the vertical plane located at the boundary line of the area approved in the Part A application for the disposal of solid waste and storage of leachate. This vertical plane extends down into the uppermost aquifer and is within the facility boundary.

"Waste pile" means any noncontainerized accumulation of nonflowing, solid waste that is used for treatment or storage.

"Waste tire" means a tire that has been discarded because it is no longer suitable for its original intended purpose because of wear, damage or defect. (See 9VAC20-150 for other definitions dealing with the waste tire program.)

"Wastewaters" means, for the purpose of this chapter, wastes that contain less than 1.0% by weight total organic carbon (TOC) and less than 1.0% by weight total suspended solids (TSS).

"Water pollution" means such alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological properties of any state water as will or is likely to create a nuisance or render such waters:

1. Harmful or detrimental or injurious to the public health, safety, or welfare, or to the health of animals, fish, or aquatic life or plants;

2. Unsuitable, with reasonable treatment, for use as present or possible future sources of public water supply; or

3. Unsuitable for recreational, commercial, industrial, agricultural, or other reasonable uses, provided that:

a. An alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological properties of state waters or a discharge or deposit of sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes to state waters by any owner that by itself is not sufficient to cause pollution but which in combination with such alteration or discharge or deposit to state waters by other persons is sufficient to cause pollution;

b. The discharge of untreated sewage by any person into state waters; and

c. The contribution to the degradation of water quality standards duly established by the State Water Control Board, are "pollution" for the terms and purposes of this chapter.

"Water table" means the upper surface of the zone of saturation in groundwaters in which the hydrostatic pressure is equal to the atmospheric pressure.

"Waters of the United States" or "waters of the U.S." means:

1. All waters that are currently used, were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including all waters that are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide;

2. All interstate waters, including interstate "wetlands";

3. All other waters such as intrastate lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mud flats, sand flats, "wetlands," sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, or natural ponds the use, degradation, or destruction of which would affect or could affect interstate or foreign commerce including:

a. Any such waters that are or could be used by interstate or foreign travelers for recreational or other purposes;

b. Any such waters from which fish or shellfish are or could be taken and sold in interstate or foreign commerce;

c. Any such waters that are used or could be used for industrial purposes by industries in interstate commerce;

d. All impoundments of waters otherwise defined as waters of the United States under this definition;

e. Tributaries of waters identified in subdivisions 3 a through d of this definition;

f. The territorial sea; and

g. Wetlands adjacent to waters (other than waters that are themselves wetlands) identified in subdivisions 3 a through f of this definition.

"Wetlands" means those areas that are defined by the federal regulations under 33 CFR Part 328, as amended.

"White goods" means any stoves, washers, hot water heaters, and other large appliances.

"Working face" means that area within a landfill that is actively receiving solid waste for compaction and cover.

"Yard waste" means a subset of vegetative waste and means decomposable waste materials generated by yard and lawn care and includes leaves, grass trimmings, brush, wood chips, and shrub and tree trimmings. Yard waste shall not include roots or stumps that exceed 12 inches in diameter.

9VAC20-81-95. Identification of solid waste.

A. Wastes identified in this section are solid wastes that are subject to this chapter unless regulated pursuant to other applicable regulations issued by the department.

B. Except as otherwise provided, the definition of solid waste per 40 CFR 261.2 as incorporated by 9VAC20-60-261, as amended, is also hereby incorporated as part of this chapter. Except as otherwise provided, all material definitions, reference materials and other ancillaries that are a part of 9VAC20-60-261, as amended, are also hereby incorporated as part of this chapter as well.

C. Except as otherwise modified or excepted by 9VAC20-60, the materials listed in the regulations of the United States Environmental Protection Agency set forth in 40 CFR 261.4(a) are considered a solid waste for the purposes of this chapter. However, these materials are not regulated under the provisions of this chapter if all conditions specified therein are met. This list and all material definitions, reference materials and other ancillaries that are part of 40 CFR Part 261.4(a), as incorporated, modified or accepted by 9VAC20-60 are incorporated as part of this chapter. In addition, the following materials are not solid wastes for the purpose of this chapter:

1. Materials generated by any of the following, which are returned to the soil as fertilizers:

a. The growing and harvesting of agricultural crops.

b. The raising and husbanding of animals, including animal manures and used animal bedding.

2. Mining overburden returned to the mine site.

3. Recyclable materials used in manner constituting disposal per 9VAC20-60-266.

4. Wood wastes burned for energy recovery.

5. Materials that are:

a. Used or reused, or prepared for use or reuse, as an ingredient in an industrial process to make a product, or as effective substitutes for commercial products or natural resources provided the materials are not being reclaimed or accumulated speculatively; or

b. Returned to the original process from which they are generated.

6. Materials that are beneficially used as determined by the department under this subsection. The department may consider other waste materials and uses to be beneficial in accordance with the provisions of 9VAC20-81-97.

7. The following materials and uses listed in this part are exempt from this chapter as long as they are managed so that they do not create an open dump, hazard, or public nuisance. These materials and the designated use are considered a beneficial use of waste materials:

a. Clean wood, wood chips, or bark from land clearing, logging operations, utility line clearing and maintenance operations, pulp and paper production, and wood products manufacturing, when these materials are placed in commerce for service as mulch, landscaping, animal bedding, erosion control, habitat mitigation, wetlands restoration, or bulking agent at a compost facility operated in compliance with Part IV (9VAC20-81-300 et seq.) of this chapter;

b. Clean wood combustion residues when used for pH adjustment in compost, liquid absorbent in compost, or as a soil amendment or fertilizer, provided the application rate of the wood ash is limited to the nutrient need of the crop grown on the land on which the wood combustion residues will be applied and provided that such application meets the requirements of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (2VAC5-400 and 2VAC5-410);

c. Compost that satisfies the applicable requirements of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (2VAC5-400 and 2VAC5-410);

d. Nonhazardous, contaminated soil that has been excavated as part of a construction project and that is used as backfill for the same excavation or excavations containing similar contaminants at the same site, at concentrations at the same level or higher. Excess contaminated soil from these projects is subject to the requirements of this chapter;

e. Nonhazardous petroleum contaminated soil that has been treated to the satisfaction of the department in accordance with 9VAC20-81-660;

f. Nonhazardous petroleum contaminated soil when incorporated into asphalt pavement products;

g. Solid wastes that are approved in advance of the placement, in writing, by the department or that are specifically mentioned in the facility permit for use as alternate daily cover material or other protective materials for landfill liner or final cover system components;

h. Fossil fuel combustion products that are not CCR when used as a material in the manufacturing of another product (e.g., concrete, concrete products, lightweight aggregate, roofing materials, plastics, paint, flowable fill) or as a substitute for a product or material resource (e.g., blasting grit, roofing granules, filter cloth pre-coat for sludge dewatering, pipe bedding);

i. Tire chips and tire shred when used as a sub-base fill for road base materials or asphalt pavements when approved by the Virginia Department of Transportation or by a local governing body;

j. Tire chips, tire shred, and ground rubber used in the production of commercial products such as mats, pavement sealers, playground surfaces, brake pads, blasting mats, and other rubberized commercial products;

k. Tire chips and tire shred when used as backfill in landfill gas or leachate collection pipes, recirculation lines, and drainage material in landfill liner and cover systems, and gas interception or remediation applications;

l. Waste tires, tire chips or tire shred when burned for energy recovery or when used in pyrolysis, gasification, or similar treatment process to produce fuel;

m. Waste-derived fuel product, as defined in 9VAC20-81-10, derived from nonhazardous solid waste;

n. Uncontaminated concrete and concrete products, asphalt pavement, brick, glass, soil, and rock placed in commerce for service as a substitute for conventional aggregate; and

o. Clean, ground gypsum wallboard when used as a soil amendment or fertilizer, provided the following conditions are met:

(1) No components of the gypsum wallboard have been glued, painted, or otherwise contaminated from manufacture or use (e.g., waterproof or fireproof drywall) unless otherwise processed to remove contaminants.

(2) The gypsum wallboard shall be processed so that 95% of the gypsum wallboard is less than 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch in size, unless an alternate size is approved by the department.

(3) The gypsum wallboard shall be applied only to agricultural, silvicultural, landscaped, or mined lands or roadway construction sites that need fertilization.

(4) The application rate for the ground gypsum wallboard shall not exceed the following rates.

D. The following activities are conditionally exempt from this chapter provided no open dump, hazard, or public nuisance is created:

1. Composting of sewage sludge at the sewage treatment plant of generation without addition of other types of solid wastes.

2. Composting of household waste generated at a residence and composted at the site of generation.

3. Composting activities performed for educational purposes as long as no more than 100 cubic yards of materials are onsite at any time. Greater quantities will be allowed with suitable justification presented to the department. For quantities greater than 100 cubic yards, approval from the department will be required prior to composting.

4. Composting of animal carcasses onsite at the farm of generation.

5. Composting of vegetative waste or yard waste generated onsite by owners or operators of agricultural operations or owners of the real property or those authorized by the owners of the real property provided:

a. All decomposed vegetative waste and compost produced is utilized on said property;

b. No vegetative waste or other waste material generated from other sources other than said property is received;

c. All applicable standards of local ordinances that govern or concern vegetative waste handling, composting, storage or disposal are satisfied; and

d. They pose no nuisance or present no potential threat to human health or the environment.

6. Composting of yard waste by owners or operators who accept yard waste generated offsite shall be exempt from all other provisions of this chapter as applied to the composting activities provided the requirements of 9VAC20-81-397 B are met.

7. Composting of preconsumer food waste and kitchen culls generated onsite and composted in containers designed to prohibit vector attraction and prevent nuisance odor generation.

8. Vermicomposting, when used to process Category I, Category II, or Category III feedstocks in containers designed to prohibit vector attraction and prevent nuisance odor generation. If offsite feedstocks are received no more than 100 cubic yards of materials may be onsite at any one time. For quantities greater than 100 cubic yards, approval from the department will be required prior to composting.

9. Composting of sewage sludge or combinations of sewage sludge with nonhazardous solid waste provided the composting facility is permitted under the requirements of a Virginia Pollution Abatement (VPA) or VPDES permit.

10. Management of solid waste in appropriate containers at the site of its generation, provided that:

a. Putrescible waste is not stored more than seven days between time of collection and time of removal for disposal;

b. Nonputrescible wastes are not stored more than 90 days between time of collection and time of removal for proper management; and

c. Treatment of waste is conducted in accordance with the following:

(1) In accordance with a waste analysis plan that:

(a) Contains a detailed chemical and physical analysis of a representative sample of the waste being treated and contains all records necessary to treat the waste in accordance with the requirements of this part, including the selected testing frequency; and

(b) Is kept in the facility's onsite file and made available to the department upon request.

(2) Notification is made to the receiving waste management facility that the waste has been treated.

11. Using rocks, brick, block, dirt, broken concrete, crushed glass, porcelain, and road pavement as clean fill.

12. Storage of less than 100 waste tires at the site of generation provided that no waste tires are accepted from offsite and that the storage will not present a hazard or a nuisance.

13. Storage in piles of land-clearing debris including stumps and brush, clean wood wastes, log yard scrapings consisting of a mixture of soil and wood, cotton gin trash, peanut hulls, and similar organic wastes that do not readily decompose, are exempt from this chapter if they meet the following conditions at a minimum:

a. The wastes are managed in the following manner:

(1) They do not cause discharges of leachate, or attract vectors.

(2) They cannot be dispersed by wind and rain.

(3) Fire is prevented.

(4) They do not become putrescent.

b. Any facility storing waste materials under the provisions of this subsection shall obtain a stormwater discharge permit if they are considered a significant source under the provisions of 9VAC25-31-120 A 1 c.

c. No more than a total of 1/3 acre of waste material is stored onsite and the waste pile does not exceed 15 feet in height above base grade.

d. Siting provisions.

(1) All log yard scrapings consisting of a mixture of soil and wood, cotton gin trash, peanut hulls, and similar organic wastes that do not readily decompose are stored at the site of the industrial activity that produces them;

(2) A 50-foot fire break is maintained between the waste pile and any structure or tree line;

(3) The slope of the ground within the area of the pile and within 50 feet of the pile does not exceed 4:1;

(4) No waste material may be stored closer than 50 feet to any regularly flowing surface water body or river, floodplain, or wetland; and

(5) No stored waste materials shall extend closer than 50 feet to any property line.

e. If activities at the site cease, any waste stored at the site must be properly managed in accordance with these regulations within 90 days. The director can approve longer timeframes with appropriate justification. Justification must be provided in writing no more than 30 days after ceasing activity at the site.

f. Waste piles that do not meet these provisions are required to obtain a permit in accordance with the permitting provisions in Part V (9VAC20-81-400 et seq.) of this chapter and meet all of the applicable waste pile requirements in Part IV (9VAC20-81-300 et seq.) of this chapter. Facilities that do not comply with the provisions of this subsection and fail to obtain a permit are subject to the provisions of 9VAC20-81-40.

14. Storage of nonhazardous solid wastes and hazardous wastes, or hazardous wastes from conditionally exempt very small quantity generators as defined in Virginia Hazardous Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-60) at a transportation terminal or transfer station in closed containers meeting the U.S. Department of Transportation specifications is exempt from this section and the permitting provisions of Part V (9VAC20-81-400 et seq.) of this chapter provided such wastes are removed to a permitted storage or disposal facility within 10 days from the initial receipt from the waste generator. To be eligible for this exemption, each shipment must be properly documented to show the name of the generator, the date of receipt by the transporter, and the date and location of the final destination of the shipment. The documentation shall be kept at the terminal or transfer station for at least three years after the shipment has been completed and shall be made available to the department upon request. All such activities shall comply with any local ordinances.

15. Open burning of solid wastes as provided in the following:

a. For forest management, agriculture practices, and highway construction and maintenance programs approved by the State Air Pollution Control Board.

b. For training and instruction of government and public firefighters under the supervision of the designated official and industrial in-house firefighting personnel with clearance from the local firefighting authority. Buildings that have not been demolished may be burned under the provisions of this subdivision only. Additionally, burning rubber tires, asphaltic materials, crankcase oil, impregnated wood, or other rubber-based or petroleum-based wastes is permitted when conducting bona fide firefighting instruction.

c. For the destruction of classified military documents under the supervision of the designated official.

d. For campfires or other fires using clean wood or vegetative waste that are used solely for recreational purposes, for ceremonial occasions, for outdoor preparation of food, and for warming of outdoor workers.

e. For the onsite destruction of vegetative waste located on the premises of private property, provided that no regularly scheduled collection service for such vegetative waste is available at the adjacent street or public road.

f. For the onsite destruction of household waste by homeowners or tenants, provided that no regularly scheduled collection service for such household waste is available at the adjacent street or public road.

g. For the onsite destruction of clean wood waste and debris waste resulting from property maintenance; from the development or modification of roads and highways, parking areas, railroad tracks, pipelines, power and communication lines, buildings or building areas, sanitary landfills; or from any other clearing operations.

16. Open burning of vegetative waste is allowed at a closed landfill that has not been released from postclosure care. The activity shall be included in the text of the postclosure plan and conducted in accordance with § 10.1-1410.3 of the Code of Virginia.

17. Placement of trees, brush, or other vegetation from land used for agricultural or silvicultural purposes on the same property or other property of the same landowner.

18. Using fossil fuel combustion products that are not CCR in one or more of the following applications or when handled, processed, transported, or stockpiled for the following uses:

a. As a base, sub-base or fill material under a paved road, the footprint of a structure, a paved parking lot, sidewalk, walkway or similar structure, or in the embankment of a road. In the case of roadway embankments, materials will be placed in accordance with Virginia Department of Transportation specifications, and exposed slopes not directly under the surface of the pavement must have a minimum of 18 inches of soil cover over the fossil fuel combustion products, the top six inches of which must be capable of sustaining the growth of indigenous plant species or plant species adapted to the area. The use, reuse, or reclamation of unamended coal combustion byproduct shall not be placed in an area designated as a 100-year flood plain;

b. Processed with a cementitious binder to produce a stabilized structural fill product that is spread and compacted with proper equipment for the construction of a project with a specified end use; or

c. For the extraction or recovery of materials and compounds contained within the fossil fuel combustion products.

E. The following solid wastes are exempt from this chapter provided that they are managed in accordance with the requirements promulgated by other applicable state or federal agencies:

1. Management of wastes regulated by the State Board of Health, the State Water Control Board, the Air Pollution Control Board, the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, or any other state or federal agency with such authority.

2. Drilling fluids, produced waters, and other wastes associated with the exploration, development, or production of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal energy.

3. Solid waste from the extraction, beneficiation, and processing of ores and minerals, including coal.

4. Fossil fuel combustion products used for mine reclamation, mine subsidence, or mine refuse disposal on a mine site permitted by the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) when used in accordance with the standards.

5. Solid waste management practices that involve only the onsite placing of solid waste from mineral mining activities at the site of those activities and in compliance with a permit issued by the DMME, that do not include any municipal solid waste, are accomplished in an environmentally sound manner, and do not create an open dump, hazard or public nuisance are exempt from all requirements of this chapter.

6. Waste or byproduct derived from an industrial process that meets the definition of fertilizer, soil amendment, soil conditioner, or horticultural growing medium as defined in § 3.2-3600 of the Code of Virginia, or whose intended purpose is to neutralize soil acidity (see § 3.2-3700 of the Code of Virginia), and that is regulated under the authority of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

7. Fossil fuel combustion products bottom ash or boiler slag used as a traction control material or road surface material if the use is consistent with Virginia Department of Transportation practices. This exemption does not apply to CCR used in this manner.

8. Waste tires generated by and stored at salvage yards licensed by the Department of Motor Vehicles provided that such storage complies with requirements set forth in § 10.1-1418.2 of the Code of Virginia and such storage does not pose a hazard or nuisance.

9. Tire chips used as the drainage material in construction of septage drain fields regulated under the authority of the Virginia Department of Health.

F. The following solid wastes are exempt from this chapter provided that they are reclaimed or temporarily stored incidentally to reclamation, are not accumulated speculatively, and are managed without creating an open dump, hazard, or a public nuisance:

1. Paper and paper products;

2. Clean wood waste that is to undergo size reduction in order to produce a saleable product, such as mulch;

3. Cloth;

4. Glass;

5. Plastics;

6. Tire chips, tire shred, ground rubber; and

7. Mixtures of above materials only. Such mixtures may include scrap metals excluded from regulation in accordance with the provisions of subsection C of this section.

9VAC20-81-250. Groundwater monitoring program.

A. General requirements.

1. Applicability.

a. Existing landfills. Owners or operators of all existing landfills shall be in compliance with the groundwater monitoring requirements specified in this section, except as provided for in subdivision 1 c of this subsection. Owners or operators of landfills that were permitted prior to December 21, 1988, but were closed in accordance with the requirements of their permit or existing regulation prior to December 21, 1988, are not required to be in compliance with the groundwater monitoring requirements specified in this section, unless conditions are recognized that classify the landfill as an Open Dump as defined under 9VAC20-81-45.

b. New landfills. Owners or operators of new facilities shall be in compliance with the groundwater monitoring requirements specified in this section before waste can be placed in the landfill except as provided for in subdivision 1 c of this subsection.

c. No migration potential exemption. Groundwater monitoring requirements under this section may be suspended by the director if the owner or operator can demonstrate that there is no potential for migration of any Table 3.1 constituents to the uppermost aquifer during the active life and the postclosure care period of the landfill. This demonstration shall be certified by a qualified groundwater scientist and shall be based upon:

(1) Site-specific field collected measurements including sampling and analysis of physical, chemical, and biological processes affecting contaminant fate and transport; and

(2) Contaminant fate and transport predictions that maximize contaminant migration and consider impacts on human health and the environment.

2. General requirements.

a. Purpose. Owners or operators shall install, operate, and maintain a groundwater monitoring system that is capable of determining the landfill's impact on the quality of groundwater in the uppermost aquifer at the disposal unit boundary during the active life and postclosure care period of the landfill.

b. Program requirements. The groundwater monitoring program shall meet the requirements of subdivision 3 of this subsection and comply with all other applicable requirements of this section.

c. Director authority. The groundwater monitoring and reporting requirements set forth here are minimum requirements. The director may require, by modifying the permit as allowed under 9VAC20-81-600 E, any owner or operator to install, operate, and maintain a groundwater monitoring system and conduct a monitoring program that contains requirements more stringent than this chapter imposes whenever it is determined that such requirements are necessary to protect human health and the environment.

3. Groundwater monitoring system.

a. System requirements. A groundwater monitoring system shall be installed consisting of a sufficient number of monitoring wells, at appropriate locations and depths, capable of yielding sufficient quantities of groundwater for sampling and analysis purposes from the uppermost aquifer that:

(1) Represent the quality of background groundwater that has not been affected by a release from the landfill; and

(2) Represent the quality of groundwater at the disposal unit boundary. The downgradient monitoring system shall be installed at the disposal unit boundary in a manner that ensures detection of groundwater contamination in the uppermost aquifer unless a variance has been granted by the director under 9VAC20-81-740.

(3) When physical obstacles preclude installation of groundwater monitoring wells at the disposal unit boundary, the downgradient monitoring wells may be installed at the closest practicable distance hydraulically downgradient from the boundary in locations that ensure detection of groundwater contamination in the uppermost aquifer.

b. Multiunit systems. The director may approve a groundwater monitoring system that covers multiple waste disposal units instead of requiring separate groundwater monitoring systems for each unit when the landfill has several units, provided the multiunit groundwater monitoring system meets the requirement of subdivision 3 of this subsection and can be demonstrated to be equally protective of human health and the environment as individual monitoring systems. The system for each waste disposal unit would be based on the following factors:

(1) Number, spacing, and orientation of the waste disposal units;

(2) Hydrogeologic setting;

(3) Site history;

(4) Engineering design of the waste disposal units; and

(5) Type of waste accepted at the waste disposal units.

c. Well construction. All monitoring wells shall be of a size adequate for sampling and shall be cased and grouted in a manner that maintains the integrity of the monitoring well bore hole. This casing shall be screened or perforated, and packed with gravel or sand where necessary, to enable sample collection at depths where appropriate aquifer flow zones exist. The annular space above the sampling depth shall be sealed with a suitable material to prevent contamination of samples and the groundwater.

d. Boring logs. A log shall be made of each newly installed monitoring well describing the soils or rock encountered, and the hydraulic conductivity of the geologic units (formations) encountered. A copy of the final log(s) with appropriate maps, including at a minimum a site plan showing the location of all monitoring wells, the total depth of monitoring well, the location of the screened interval, the top and bottom of sand or gravel pack, and the top and bottom of the seal shall be sent to the department with the certification required under subdivision 3 g of this subsection.

e. Well maintenance. The monitoring wells, piezometers, and other groundwater measurement, sampling, and analytical devices shall be operated and maintained in a manner that allows them to perform to design specifications throughout the duration of the groundwater monitoring program. Nonfunctioning monitoring wells must be replaced or repaired upon recognition of damage or nonperformance. Well repair or replacement shall be coordinated with the department prior to initiating the action.

f. Network specifics. The network shall include at least one upgradient monitoring well and at least three downgradient monitoring wells. The number, spacing, and depths of monitoring wells included in a landfill's network shall be determined based on:

(1) Site-specific technical information that shall include thorough characterization by the owner or operator of:

(a) The thickness of any unsaturated geologic units or fill materials that may overlay the uppermost aquifer;

(b) The thickness and description of materials comprising the uppermost aquifer;

(c) Materials comprising the confining unit defining the lower boundary of the uppermost aquifer, including, but not limited to, thicknesses, stratigraphy, lithology, hydraulic conductivities, porosities, and effective porosities; and

(d) the calculated groundwater flow rate and direction within the uppermost aquifer including any seasonal and temporal fluctuations in groundwater flow.

(2) The lateral spacing between downgradient monitoring wells based on site-specific information supplied under subdivision 3 f (1) of this subsection.

g. Monitoring well certification. The groundwater monitoring well(s) shall, within 30 days of well(s) installation, be certified by a qualified groundwater scientist noting that all wells have been installed in accordance with the documentation submitted under subdivision 3 d of this subsection. Within 14 days of completing this certification, the owner or operator shall transmit the certification to the department.

4. The groundwater sampling and analysis requirements for the groundwater monitoring system are as follows:

a. Quality assurance and control. The groundwater monitoring program shall include consistent field sampling and laboratory analysis procedures that are designed to ensure monitoring results that provide an accurate representation of the groundwater quality at the background and downgradient wells. At a minimum the program shall include procedures and techniques for:

(1) Sample collection;

(2) Sample preservation and shipment;

(3) Analytical procedures;

(4) Chain of custody control; and

(5) Quality assurance and quality control.

b. Analytical methods. The groundwater monitoring program shall include sampling and analytical methods that are appropriate for groundwater sampling and that accurately measure solid waste constituents in groundwater samples. Groundwater samples obtained pursuant to 9VAC20-81-250 B or C shall not be filtered prior to laboratory analysis. The sampling, analysis and quality control/quality assurance methods set forth in EPA document SW-846, as amended, shall be used. The department may require re-sampling if it believes the samples were not properly sampled or analyzed.

c. Groundwater rate and flow. Groundwater elevations at each monitoring well shall be determined immediately prior to purging each time a sample is obtained. The owner or operator shall determine the rate and direction of groundwater flow each time groundwater is sampled pursuant to subsection B or C of this section or 9VAC20-81-260. Groundwater elevations in wells that monitor the same waste disposal unit or units shall be measured within a period of time short enough to avoid temporal variations, which could preclude accurate determination of groundwater flow rate and direction.

d. Background data. The owner or operator shall establish background groundwater quality in a hydraulically upgradient or background well, or wells, for each of the monitoring parameters or constituents required in the particular groundwater monitoring program that applies to the landfill. Background groundwater quality may be established at wells that are not located hydraulically upgradient from the landfill if they meet the requirements of subdivision 4 e of this subsection.

e. Alternate well provision. A determination of background quality may be based on sampling of wells that are not upgradient from the waste disposal unit or units where:

(1) Hydrogeologic conditions do not allow the owner or operator to determine what wells are upgradient; and

(2) Sampling at these wells will provide an indication of background groundwater quality that is as representative or more representative than that provided by the upgradient wells.

f. Sampling and statistics. The number of samples collected to establish groundwater quality data shall be consistent with the appropriate statistical procedures determined pursuant to subdivision 4 g of this subsection.

g. Statistical methods. The owner or operator shall specify in the Groundwater Monitoring Plan the statistical method(s) listed in subsection D of this section that will be used in evaluating groundwater monitoring data for each monitoring constituent. The statistical test(s) chosen shall be applied separately for each groundwater constituent in each well after each individual sampling event required under subdivision B 2 or 3, C 2 or 3, or as required under 9VAC20-81-260 E 1.

h. Evaluation and response. After each sampling event required under subsection B or C of this section, the owner or operator shall determine whether or not there is a statistically significant increase over background values for each groundwater constituent required in the particular groundwater monitoring program by comparing the groundwater quality of each constituent at each monitoring well installed pursuant to subdivision 3 a of this subsection to the background value of that constituent. In determining whether a statistically significant increase has occurred, the owner or operator shall:

(1) Ensure the sampling result comparisons are made according to the statistical procedures and performance standards specified in subsection D of this section;

(2) Ensure that within 30 days of completion of sampling and laboratory analysis actions, the determination of whether there has been a statistically significant increase over background at each monitoring well has been completed; and

(3) If identified, the statistically significant increase shall be reported to the department within the notification timeframes identified in subsection B or C of this section and discussed in the quarterly or semi-annual report submission described under subdivision E 2 c of this section. Notifications qualified as being "preliminary," "suspect," "unverified," or otherwise not a final determination of a statistical exceedance will not be accepted.

i. Verification sampling. The owner or operator may at any time within the 30-day statistically significant increases determination period defined under subdivision A 4 h (2) of this section, obtain verification samples if the initial review of analytical data suggests results that might not be an accurate reflection of groundwater quality at the disposal unit boundary. Undertaking verification sampling is a voluntary action on the part of the owner or operator and shall not alter the timeframes associated with determining or reporting a statistically significant increase as otherwise defined under subdivision A 4 h (2), B 2 or 3, or C 2 or 3 of this section.

j. Data validation. The owner or operator may at any time within the 30-day statistically significant increases determination period defined under subdivision A 4 h (2) of this subsection, undertake third-party data validation of the analytical data received from the laboratory. Undertaking such validation efforts is a voluntary action on the part of the owner or operator and shall not alter the timeframes associated with determining or reporting a statistically significant increase as otherwise defined under subdivision A 4 h (2), B 2 or 3, or C 2 or 3 of this section.

5. Alternate source demonstration allowance.

a. Allowance. As a result of any statistically significant increase identified while monitoring groundwater under subdivision B 2 or 3, or C 2 or 3 of this section, or at anytime within the Corrective Action process under 9VAC20-81-260, the owner or operator has the option of submitting an Alternate Source Demonstration report, certified by a qualified groundwater scientist, demonstrating:

(1) A source other than the landfill caused the statistical exceedance;

(2) The exceedance resulted from error in sampling, analysis, or evaluation; or

(3) The exceedance resulted from a natural variation in groundwater quality.

b. Timeframes. A successful demonstration must be made within 90 days of noting a statistically significant increase. The director may approve a longer timeframe for submittal and approval of the Alternate Source Demonstration with appropriate justification.

c. Evaluation and response. Based on the information submitted in accordance with subdivision 5 a of this subsection, the director will:

(1) In the case of the successful demonstration of an error in sampling, analysis, or evaluation, allow the owner or operator to continue monitoring groundwater in accordance with the monitoring program in place at the time of the statistical exceedance.

(2) In the case of a successful demonstration of an alternate source for the release or natural variability in the aquifer matrix:

(a) Require changes in the groundwater monitoring system as needed to accurately reflect the groundwater conditions and allow the owner or operator to continue monitoring groundwater in accordance with the monitoring program in place at the time of the statistical exceedance;

(b) Require any changes to the monitoring system be completed prior to the next regularly scheduled groundwater monitoring event or within 90 days (whichever is greater); and

(c) Require any changes to the monitoring system be approved via the modification process under 9VAC20-81-600 within 90 days of the approval of the alternate source demonstration.

(3) In the case of an unsuccessful Alternate Source Demonstration, require the owner or operator to initiate the actions that would otherwise be required as a result of the statistically significant increase noted under subdivision B 2 or 3, or C 2 or 3 of this section as appropriate.

6. Establishment of groundwater protection standards.

a. Requirement. Upon recognition of a statistically significant increase over background and while monitoring in the Assessment or Phase II monitoring programs defined under subdivision B 3 or C 3 of this section, the owner or operator shall propose a groundwater protection standard for all detected Table 3.1 Column B constituents. The proposed standards shall be submitted to the department by a qualified groundwater scientist and be accompanied by relevant historical groundwater sampling data to justify the proposed concentration levels.

b. Establishment process. The groundwater protection standards shall be established in the following manner:

(1) For constituents for which a maximum contaminant level (MCL) has been promulgated under § 1412 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (40 CFR Part 141), the MCL for that constituent shall be automatically established as the groundwater protection standard upon submission of the proposed standards.

(2) If the owner or operator determines that a site-specific background concentration is greater than the MCL associated with that constituent under subdivision 6 b (1) of this subsection, the background value may be substituted for use as the groundwater protection standard in lieu of the MCL for that constituent upon receiving written department approval.

(3) For constituents for which no MCL has been promulgated, site-specific background concentration value(s) may be used upon receiving written department approval.

(4) For constituents for which no MCL has been promulgated, a risk-based alternate concentration levels may be used if approved by the director as long as:

(a) The owner or operator submits a request to the department asking for approval to use risk-based alternate concentration levels for a specific list of constituents and identifies that these constituents lack an MCL. In the request the owner or operator shall specify whether site-specific, independently calculated, risk-based alternate concentration levels will be applied, or if the facility will accept the default department-provided limits.

(b) The alternate concentration levels that may be provided as default values by the department and those independently calculated by the owner or operator are demonstrated to meet the following criteria or factors before they can be used as groundwater protection standards:

(i) Groundwater quality - The potential for adverse quality effects considering the physical and chemical characteristics of the waste in the landfill, its potential for migration in the aquifer; the hydrogeological characteristics of the facility and surrounding land; the rate and direction of groundwater flow; the proximity and withdrawal rates of groundwater users; the current and future uses of groundwater in the area; the existing quality of groundwater, including other sources of contamination and their cumulative impact on the groundwater quality.

(ii) Human exposure - Potential for health risks caused by exposure to waste constituents released from the landfill using federal guidelines for assessing the health risks of environmental pollutants; scientifically valid studies conducted in accordance with the Toxic Substances Control Act Good Laboratory Practice Standards (40 CFR Part 792); or equivalent standards. For carcinogens, the alternate concentration levels must be set based on a lifetime cancer risk level due to continuous lifetime exposure within the 1x10^-4 to 1x10^-6 range. For systemic toxicants, alternate concentration levels must be demonstrated to be levels to which the human population (including sensitive subgroups) could be exposed to on a daily basis without the likelihood of appreciable risk of deleterious effects during a lifetime.

(iii) Surface water - The potential adverse effect on hydraulically connected surface water quality based on the volume, physical and chemical characteristics of the waste in the landfill; the hydrogeological characteristics of the facility and surrounding land; the rate and direction of groundwater flow; the patterns of rainfall in the region; the proximity of the landfill to surface waters; the current and future uses of surface waters in the area and any water quality standards established for those surface waters; the existing quality of surface water, including other sources of contamination and the cumulative impact on surface water quality.

(iv) Other adverse effects - Potential damage to wildlife, crops, vegetation, and physical structures caused by exposure to waste constituents; the persistence and permanence of the potential adverse effects; and the potential for health risks caused by human exposure to waste constituents using factors shown in subdivision b (4) (b) (ii) of this subsection.

(5) In making any determination regarding the use of alternate concentration levels under this section, the director will:

(a) Consider any identification of underground sources of drinking water as identified by EPA under 40 CFR 144.7,

(b) Consider additional or modified monitoring requirements or control measures,

(c) Include a schedule for the periodic review of the alternate concentration levels, or

(d) Approve the alternate concentration levels as proposed or issue modified alternate concentration levels.

c. Implementation. Groundwater protection standards shall be considered established for the facility upon completion of the actions described under either subdivision A 6 b (1), (2), (3) or if necessary (4) and shall be placed in the facility Operating Record and shall be used during subsequent comparisons of groundwater sampling data consistent with the requirements of subdivision B 3 f or C 3 e of this section.

d. MCL and background revisions. After establishment of groundwater protection standards under subdivision B 6 b, if the standards are modified as a result of revisions to any MCL or department-approved background, the facility shall update its listing of groundwater protection standards and shall place the new list in the Operating Record and shall use the new values during subsequent comparisons of sampling data consistent with the requirements of subdivision B 3 f or C 3 e of this section.

e. Alternate concentration levels revisions. After establishment of groundwater protection standards under subdivision B 6 b of this section, if the department-approved alternate concentration levels change based on information released by EPA, to the extent practical, the department will issue revisions to the alternate concentration levels for facility use no more often than an annual basis. The facility shall use the alternate concentration levels listing in effect at the time the sampling event takes place when comparing the results against the groundwater protection standards under subdivision B 3 f or C 3 e of this section.

B. Monitoring for sanitary landfills.

1. Applicability.

a. Existing facilities. Except for those sanitary landfills identified in subdivision C 1 of this section, existing sanitary landfill facilities and closed facilities that have accepted waste on or after October 9, 1993, and in the case of 'small' landfills on or after April 9, 1994, shall be in compliance with the detection monitoring requirements specified in subdivision 2 of this subsection unless existing sampling data requires a move to assessment monitoring described under subdivision 3 of this subsection.

b. New facilities. Facilities placed in operation to receive waste after October 9, 1993, shall be in compliance with the detection monitoring requirements specified in subdivision 2 of this section before waste can be placed in the landfill unless existing sampling data requires a move to assessment monitoring described under subdivision 3 of this subsection.

c. Closed facilities. Unless an extension to the deadline above has been granted by the director, closed facilities that have ceased to accept any waste on or before October 9, 1993, and in the case of a "small" landfill, before April 9, 1994, may comply with the "State Monitoring Program" monitoring requirements specified in subdivision C 2 or 3 of this section.

d. Other facilities. Owners or operators of disposal facilities not subject to the federal groundwater monitoring requirements prescribed under 40 CFR Parts 257 and 258 must perform the groundwater monitoring described in subdivision C 2 or 3 of this section.

e. Proximity to wetlands. Owners or operators of sanitary landfills that accepted waste after June 30, 1999, must:

(1) Perform quarterly groundwater monitoring unless the director determines that less frequent monitoring is necessary consistent with the requirements of the special provisions regarding wetlands in § 10.1-1408.5 of the Code of Virginia.

(2) The quarterly monitoring frequency shall remain in effect until the department is notified waste is no longer being accepted at the sanitary landfill.

(3) This requirement will not limit the authority of the Waste Management Board or the director to require more frequent groundwater monitoring if required to protect human health and the environment.

(4) For purposes of this subdivision "proximity to wetlands" shall be defined as landfills that were constructed on a wetland, have a potential hydrologic connection to such a wetland in the event of an escape of liquids from the facility, or are within a mile of such a wetland.

2. Detection monitoring program.

a. Sampling requirements. All sanitary landfills shall implement detection monitoring except as otherwise provided in subdivision 1 of this subsection. The monitoring frequency for all constituents listed in Table 3.1 Column A shall be as follows:

(1) Initial sampling period.

(a) For facilities that monitor groundwater on a semi-annual basis, a minimum of four independent samples from each well (background and downgradient) shall be collected and analyzed for the Table 3.1 Column A constituents during the first semi-annual sampling period. A semi-annual period is defined under 9VAC20-81-10.

(b) For facilities that monitor groundwater on a quarterly basis as a result of subdivision 1 e of this subsection, a minimum of four samples from each well (background and downgradient) shall be collected and analyzed for the Table 3.1 Column A constituents. The samples shall be collected within the first quarterly period, using a schedule that ensures, to the greatest extent possible, an accurate calculation of background concentrations.

(2) Subsequent sampling events. At least one sample from each well (background and downgradient) shall be collected and analyzed during subsequent semi-annual or quarterly events during the active life and postclosure period. Data from subsequent background sampling events may be added to the previously calculated background data so that the facility maintains the most accurate representation of background groundwater quality with which to carry out statistical analysis required under subdivision A 4 h of this section.

(3) Alternate sampling events. The director may specify an appropriate alternate frequency for repeated sampling and analysis during the active life (including closure) and the postclosure care period. The alternate frequency during the active life (including closure) and the postclosure period shall be no less than annual. The alternate frequency shall be based on consideration of the following factors:

(a) Lithology of the aquifer and unsaturated zone;

(b) Hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer and unsaturated zone;

(c) Groundwater flow rates;

(d) Minimum distance between upgradient edge of the disposal unit boundary and downgradient monitoring well screen (minimum distance of travel); and

(e) Resource value of the aquifer.

b. Evaluation and response. If the owner or operator determines under subdivision A 4 h of this section, that there is:

(1) A statistically significant increase over background as determined by a method meeting the requirements of subsection D of this section, for one or more of the constituents listed in Table 3.1 Column A at any of the monitoring wells at the disposal unit boundary during any detection monitoring sampling event, the owner or operator shall:

(a) Within 14 days of this finding, notify the department of this fact, indicating which constituents have shown statistically significant increases over background levels; and

(b) Within 90 days, (i) establish an assessment monitoring program meeting the requirements of subdivision 3 of this subsection, or (ii) submit an Alternate Source Demonstration as specified in subdivision A 5 of this section. If, after 90 days, a successful demonstration has not been made, the owner or operator shall initiate an assessment monitoring program as otherwise required in subdivision 3 of this subsection. The 90-day Alternate Source Demonstration period may be extended by the director for good cause.

(2) No statistically significant increase over background as determined by a method meeting the requirements of subsection D of this section, for any of the constituents listed in Table 3.1 Column A at any of the monitoring wells at the disposal unit boundary during any detection monitoring sampling event; the owner or operator may remain in detection monitoring and include a discussion of the sampling results and statistical analysis in the semi-annual or quarterly report required under subdivision E 2 c of this section.

3. Assessment monitoring program. The owner or operator shall implement the assessment monitoring program whenever a statistically significant increase over background has been detected during monitoring conducted under the detection monitoring program.

a. Sampling requirements. Within 90 days of recognizing a statistically significant increase over background for one or more of the constituents listed in Table 3.1 Column A, the owner or operator shall, unless in receipt of an approval to an Alternate Source Demonstration under subdivision A 5 of this section or a director-approved extension, conduct the initial assessment monitoring sampling event for the constituents found in Table 3.1 Column B. A minimum of one sample from each well installed under subdivision A 3 a of this section shall be collected and analyzed during the initial and all subsequent annual Table 3.1 Column B sampling events.

b. Director provisions:

(1) The owner or operator may request that the director approve an appropriate subset of monitoring wells that may remain in detection monitoring defined under subdivision 2 of this subsection, based on the results of the initial, or subsequent annual Table 3.1 Column B sampling events. Monitoring wells may be considered for the subset if:

(a) They show no detections of Table 3.1 Column B constituents other than those already previously detected in detection monitoring defined under subdivision 2 of this subsection; and

(b) They display no statistically significant increases over background for any constituents on the Table 3.1 Column A list. If an increase is subsequently recognized in a well approved for the subset, the well shall no longer be considered part of the detection monitoring subset.

(2) The owner or operator may request the director delete any of the Table 3.1 Column B monitoring constituents from the assessment monitoring program if the owner or operator demonstrates that the deleted constituents are not reasonably expected to be in or derived from the waste.

(3) The director may specify an appropriate alternate frequency for repeated sampling and analysis for the full set of Table 3.1 Column B constituents required by subdivision 3 a of this subsection during the active life and postclosure care period based on the consideration of the following factors:

(a) Lithology of the aquifer and unsaturated zone;

(b) Hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer and unsaturatedzone;

(c) Groundwater flow rates;

(d) Minimum distance between upgradient edge of the disposal unit boundary and downgradient monitoring well screen (minimum distance of travel);

(e) Resource value of the aquifer; and

(f) Nature (fate and transport) of any constituents detected in response to subdivision 3 f of this subsection.

c. Development of background. After obtaining the results from the initial or subsequent annual sampling events required in subdivision 3 a of this subsection, the owner or operator shall:

(1) Within 14 days, notify the department identifying the Table 3.1 Column B constituents that have been detected;

(2) Within 90 days, and on at least a semi-annual basis thereafter, resample all wells installed under subdivision A 3 a of this section, conduct analyses for all constituents in Table 3.1 Column A as well as those constituents in Column B that are detected in response to subdivision 3 a of this subsection and subsequent Table 3.1 Column B sampling events as may be required of this section, and report this data in the semi-annual or quarterly report defined under subdivision E 2 c of this section;

(3) Within 180 days of the initial sampling event, establish background concentrations for any Table 3.1 Column B constituents detected pursuant to subdivision B 3 a of this subsection. A minimum of four independent samples from each well (background and downgradient) shall be collected and analyzed to establish background for the detected constituents.

d. Establishment of groundwater protection standards. Within 30 days of establishing background under subdivision 3 c (3) of this subsection, submit proposed groundwater protection standards for all constituents detected under Assessment monitoring. The groundwater protection standards shall be approved by the director in accordance with the provisions of subdivision A 6 of this section.

e. Groundwater monitoring plan. No later than 60 days after approval of the groundwater protection standards in accordance with subdivision A 6 of this section, the owner or operator shall submit an updated Groundwater Monitoring Plan that details the site monitoring well network and sampling and analysis procedures undertaken during groundwater monitoring events. The owner or operator shall additionally:

(1) No later than 30 days after the submission of the Groundwater Monitoring Plan, request a permit modification to incorporate the plan and related groundwater monitoring modules into the landfill's permit in accordance with 9VAC20-81-600. The department may waive the requirement for a permit modification if the Groundwater Monitoring Plan included in the landfill's permit reflects current site conditions in accordance with the regulations.

(2) If the 30-day timeframe specified in subdivision 3 e (1) of this subsection is exceeded, the director will modify the permit in accordance with 9VAC20-81-600 E.

f. Evaluation and response.

(1) If the concentrations of all Table 3.1 Column B constituents are shown to be at or below background values, using the statistical procedures in subsection D of this section, for two consecutive Table 3.1 Column B sampling events, the owner or operator shall notify the director of this finding in the semi-annual or quarterly monitoring report and may return to detection monitoring defined under subdivision 2 of this subsection.

(2) If the concentrations of any Table 3.1 Column B constituents are found to be above background values, but below the groundwater protection standards established under subdivision A 6 of this section using the statistical procedures in subsection D of this section, the owner or operator shall continue in assessment monitoring in accordance with this section and present the findings to the department in the semi-annual or quarterly report.

(3) If one or more Table 3.1 Column B constituents are detected at statistically significant levels above the groundwater protection standard established under subdivision A 6 of this section using the statistical procedures in subsection D of this section, the owner or operator shall:

(a) Within 14 days of this finding, notify the department identifying the Table 3.1 Column B constituents that have exceeded the groundwater protection standard. The notification will include a statement that within 90 days the owner or operator will either:

(i) Undertake characterization and assessment actions required under 9VAC20-81-260 C 1; or

(ii) Submit an Alternate Source Demonstration as specified in subdivision A 5 of this section. If a successful demonstration is made within 90 days, the owner or operator may continue monitoring in accordance with the assessment monitoring program pursuant to subdivision 3 of this subsection. If the 90-day period passes without demonstration approval, the owner or operator shall comply with the actions under 9VAC20-81-260 C within the timeframes specified unless the director has granted an extension to those timeframes.

(b) Describe the results in the semi-annual or quarterly report.

C. Monitoring for CDD, industrial, and State Monitoring Program sanitary landfills.

1. Applicability.

a. Sanitary landfills. Owners or operators of sanitary disposal facilities that have ceased to accept solid waste prior to the federally imposed deadline of October 9, 1993, or in the case of a "small landfill" before April 9, 1994, are eligible, with the director's approval, to conduct the state groundwater monitoring program described in this section in lieu of the groundwater monitoring program required under subdivision B 2 or 3 of this section.

b. CDD and industrial landfills. Owners or operators of CDD and industrial landfills not subject to the federal groundwater monitoring requirements prescribed under 40 CFR Parts 257 and 258 shall perform the groundwater monitoring described in this section.

c. Other landfills. All other landfills excluding sanitary landfills, including those that accepted hazardous waste from conditionally exempt very small quantity generators after July 1, 1998, shall perform the groundwater monitoring described in this section.

2. First determination monitoring program.

a. Sampling requirements. A first determination monitoring program shall consist of a background-establishing period followed by semi-annual sampling and analysis for the constituents shown in Table 3.1 Column A at all wells installed under subdivision A 3 a of this section. Within 14 days of each event during first determination monitoring, notify the department identifying the Table 3.1 Column A constituents that have been detected.

b. Development of background. Within 360 days of the initial first determination sampling event:

(1) Establish background concentrations for any constituents detected pursuant to subdivision 2 a of this subsection.

(a) A minimum of four independent samples from each well (background and downgradient) shall be collected and analyzed to establish background concentrations for the detected constituents using the procedures in subsection D of this section.

(b) In those cases where new wells are installed downgradient of waste disposal units that already have received waste, but these wells have not yet undergone their initial sampling event, collection of four independent samples for background development will not be required.

(2) Within 30 days of completing the background calculations required under subdivision 2 b (1) (a) of this subsection, submit a first determination report, signed by a qualified groundwater scientist, to the department which must include a summary of the background concentration data developed during the background sampling efforts as well as the statistical calculations for each constituent detected in the groundwater during the background sampling events.

c. Semi-annual sampling and analysis. Within 90 days of the last sampling event during the background-establishing period and at least semi-annually thereafter, sample each monitoring well in the compliance network for analysis of the constituents in Table 3.1 Column A.

d. Evaluation and response. Upon determination of site background under subdivision 2 b (1) (a) of this subsection, the results of all subsequent first determination monitoring events shall be assessed as follows:

(1) If no Table 3.1 Column A constituents are found to have entered the groundwater at statistically significant levels over background, the owner or operator shall:

(a) Remain in first determination monitoring; and

(b) May request the director delete any Table 3.1 Column A constituents from the semi-annual sampling list if the owner or operator demonstrates that the proposed deleted constituents are not reasonably expected to be in or derived from the waste.

(2) If the owner or operator recognizes a statistically significant increase over background for any Table 3.1 Column A constituent, within 14 days of this finding, the owner or operator shall notify the department identifying the Table 3.1 Column A constituents that have exceeded background levels. The notification will include a statement that within 90 days the owner or operator shall:

(a) Initiate a Phase II sampling program; or

(b) Submit an Alternate Source Demonstration under subdivision A 5 of this section.

(3) If a successful demonstration is made and approved within the timeframes established under subdivision A 5 of this section, the owner or operator may remain in First Determination monitoring.

(4) If a successful demonstration is not made and approved within the timeframes established under subdivision A 5 of this section, the owner or operator shall initiate Phase II monitoring in accordance with the timeframes in subdivision C 3 of this section. The director may approve a longer timeframe with appropriate justification.

3. Phase II monitoring.

a. Sampling requirements. The owner or operator shall:

(1) Within 90 days of noting the exceedance over background determined under subdivision C 2 d of this section, sample the groundwater in all monitoring wells installed under subdivision A 3 a of this section for all Table 3.1 Column B constituents;

(2) After completing the initial Phase II sampling event, continue to sample and analyze groundwater on a semi-annual basis within the Phase II monitoring program;

b. Background development. If no additional Table 3.1 Column B constituents are detected other than those previously detected under Column A, which already have established their background levels, the owner or operator shall follow the requirements under subdivision 3 c of this subsection regarding groundwater protection standard establishment while continuing to sample for the Table 3.1 Column A list on a semi-annual basis. If one or more additional Table 3.1 Column B constituents are detected during the initial Phase II sampling event:

(1) Within 360 days, establish a background value for each additional detected Table 3.1 Column B constituent.

(2) Submit a Phase II Background report within 30 days of completing the background calculations including a summary of the background concentration data for each constituent detected in the groundwater during the Table 3.1 Column B background sampling events.

(3) If any detected Table 3.1 Column B constituent is subsequently not detected for a period of two years, the owner or operator may petition the director to delete the constituent from the list of detected Table 3.1 Column B constituents that must be sampled semi-annually.

c. Establishment of groundwater protection standards. No later than:

(1) Thirty days after submitting the Phase II Background report required under the provisions of subdivision 3 b (2) of this subsection, or within 30 days of obtaining the results from the initial Table 3.1 Column B sampling event indicating no further sampling for background determination is necessary, the owner or operator shall propose a groundwater protection standard for all detected Table 3.1 constituents.

(2) The groundwater protection standard proposed shall be established in a manner consistent with the provisions in subdivision A 6 of this section.

d. Groundwater monitoring plan. No later than 60 days after establishment of groundwater protection standards in accordance with subdivision A 6 of this section, the owner or operator shall submit an updated Groundwater Monitoring Plan that details the site monitoring well network and sampling and analysis procedures undertaken during groundwater monitoring events. The department may waive the requirement for an updated plan if the Groundwater Monitoring Plan included in the landfill's permit reflects current site conditions in accordance with the regulations.

(1) No later than 30 days after the submission of the Groundwater Monitoring Plan, the owner or operator shall request a permit modification to incorporate the updated plan and related groundwater monitoring modules into the landfill's permit in accordance with 9VAC20-81-600.

(2) If the 30-day timeframe specified in subdivision 3 d (1) of this subsection is exceeded, the director will modify the permit in accordance with 9VAC20-81-600 E.

e. Evaluation and response. After each subsequent Phase II monitoring event following establishment of groundwater protection standards, the concentration of Table 3.1 Column B constituents found in the groundwater at each monitoring well installed pursuant to subdivision A 3 a of this section will be evaluated against the groundwater protection standards. The evaluation will be presented to the department in a semi-annual Phase II report. The evaluation will be as follows:

(1) If all Table 3.1 constituents are shown to be at or below background values, using the statistical procedures in subsection D of this section, for two consecutive Table 3.1 Column B sampling events, the owner or operator shall notify the director of this finding in the semi-annual report and may return to first determination monitoring;

(2) If any Table 3.1 Column B constituents are found to be above background values, but are below the established groundwater protection standard using the statistical procedures in subsection D of this section, the owner or operator shall continue semi-annual Phase II monitoring and present the findings in a semi-annual report;

(3) If one or more Table 3.1 Column B constituents are above the established groundwater protection standard using the statistical procedures in subsection D of this section, the owner or operator shall:

(a) Notify the department within 14 days of this finding. The notification will include a statement that within 90 days the owner or operator will either: (i) undertake the characterization and assessment actions required under 9VAC20-81-260 C 1; or (ii) submit an alternate source demonstration as specified in subdivision A 5 of this section. If a successful demonstration is made within 90 days, the owner or operator may continue monitoring in accordance with Phase II monitoring program. If the 90-day period is exceeded, the owner or operator shall comply with the timeframes of 9VAC20-81-260 C unless the director has granted an extension to those timeframes; and

(b) Present the findings in the semi-annual report.

D. Statistical methods and constituent lists.

1. Acceptable test methods. The following statistical test methods may be used to evaluate groundwater monitoring data:

a. A parametric analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by multiple comparisons procedures to identify statistically significant evidence of contamination. The method must include estimation and testing of the contrasts between each compliance well's mean and the background mean levels for each constituent.

b. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) based on ranks followed by multiple comparisons procedures to identify statistically significant evidence of contamination. The method must include estimation and testing of the contrasts between each compliance well's median and the background median levels for each constituent.

c. A tolerance or prediction interval procedure in which an interval for each constituent is established from the distribution of the background data, and the level of each constituent in each compliance well is compared to the upper tolerance or prediction limit.

d. A control chart approach that gives control limits for each constituent.

e. Another statistical test method that meets the performance standards specified below. Based on the justification submitted to the department, the director may approve the use of an alternative test. The justification must demonstrate that the alternative method meets the performance standards in subdivision 2 of this subsection.

2. Performance standards. Any statistical method chosen by the owner or operator shall comply with the following performance standards, as appropriate:

a. The statistical method used to evaluate groundwater monitoring data shall be appropriate for the distribution of monitoring parameters or constituents. If the distribution is shown by the owner or operator to be inappropriate for a normal theory test, then the data shall be transformed or a distribution-free theory test shall be used. If the distributions for the constituents differ, more than one statistical method may be needed.

b. If an individual well comparison procedure is used to compare an individual compliance well constituent concentration with background constituent concentrations or a groundwater protection standard, the test shall be done at a Type I error level no less than 0.01 for each testing period. If a multiple comparisons procedure is used, the Type I experiment-wise error rate for each testing period shall be no less than 0.05; however, the Type I error of no less than 0.01 for individual well comparisons must be maintained.

c. If a control chart approach is used to evaluate groundwater monitoring data, the specific type of control chart and its associated parameter values shall be protective of human health and the environment. The parameters shall be determined after considering the number of samples in the background data base, the data distribution, and the range of the concentration values for each constituent of concern.

d. If a tolerance interval or a predictional interval is used to evaluate groundwater monitoring data, the levels of confidence and, for tolerance intervals, the percentage of the population that the interval must contain, shall be protective of human health and the environment. These parameters shall be determined after considering the number of samples in the background data base, the data distribution, and the range of the concentration values for each constituent of concern.

e. The statistical method shall account for data below the limit of detection with one or more statistical procedures that are protective of human health and the environment. Any estimated quantitation limit (EQL) that is used in the statistical method shall be the lowest concentration level that can be reliably achieved within specified limits of precision and accuracy during routine laboratory operating conditions that are available to the landfill.

f. If necessary, the statistical method shall include procedures to control or correct for seasonal and spatial variability as well as temporal correlation in the data.

E. Recordkeeping and reporting.

1. Records pertaining to groundwater monitoring activities shall be retained at a specified location by the owner or operator throughout the active life and postclosure care period of the landfill, and shall include at a minimum:

a. All historical groundwater surface elevation data obtained from wells installed pursuant to subdivision A 3 a of this section;

b. All historical laboratory analytical results for groundwater sampling events required under the groundwater monitoring programs as described in this section;

c. All records of well installation, repair, or abandonment actions;

d. All department correspondence to the landfill; and

e. All approved variances, well subsets, wetlands, or other such director/department approvals.

2. Reporting requirements.

a. Annual report.

(1) An Annual Groundwater Monitoring Report shall be submitted by the owner or operator to the department no later than 120 days from the completion of sampling and analysis conducted under subdivision A 4 h of this section for the second semi-annual event or fourth quarterly event during each calendar year and shall by accompanied by:

(a) A signature page; and

(b) A completed QA/QC DEQ Form ARSC-01.

(2) The technical content of the annual report shall at a minimum, contain the following topical content:

(a) The landfill's name, type, permit number, current owner or operator, and location keyed to a USGS topographic map;

(b) Summary of the design type (i.e., lined versus unlined), operational history (i.e., trench fill versus area fill), and size (acres) of the landfill including key dates such as beginning and termination of waste disposal actions and dates different groundwater monitoring phases were entered;

(c) Description of the surrounding land use noting whether any adjoining land owners utilize private wells as a potable water source;

(d) A discussion of the topographic, geologic, and hydrologic setting of the landfill including a discussion on the nature of the uppermost aquifer (i.e., confined versus unconfined) and proximity to surface waters;

(e) A discussion of the monitoring wells network noting any modifications that were made to the network during the year or any nonperformance issues and a statement noting that the monitoring well network meets (or did not meet) the requirements of subdivision A 3 of this section;

(f) A listing of the groundwater sampling events undertaken during the previous calendar year;

(g) A historical table listing the detected constituents, and their concentrations identified in each well during the sampling period; and

(h) Evaluations of and appropriate responses to the groundwater elevation data; groundwater flow rate as calculated using the prior years elevation data; groundwater flow direction (as illustrated on a potentiometric surface map); and sampling and analytical data obtained during the past calendar year.

b. Semi-annual or quarterly report.

(1) After each sampling event has been completed for the 1st semi-annual or first, second and third quarterly groundwater sampling events, a semi-annual or quarterly monitoring report shall be submitted under separate cover by the owner or operator to the department no later than 120 days from the completion of sampling and analysis conducted under subdivision A 4 h of this section, unless as allowed under a director-approved extension. The report shall at a minimum contain the following items:

(a) Signature page signed by a professional geologist or qualified groundwater scientist;

(b) Landfill name and permit number;

(c) Statement noting whether or not all monitoring points within the permitted network installed to meet the requirements of subdivision A 3 a of this section were sampled as required under subdivision B 2 or 3 or C 2 or 3 during the event;

(d) Calculated rate of groundwater flow during the sampling period as required under subdivision A 4 c of this section;

(e) The groundwater flow direction as determined during the sampling period as required under subdivision A 4 c of this section presented as either plain text or graphically as a potentiometric surface map;

(f) Statement noting whether or not there were statistically significant increases over background or groundwater protection standards during the sampling period, the supporting statistical calculations, and reference to the date the director was notified of the increase pursuant to timeframes in subdivision B 2 or 3 or C 2 or 3, if applicable;

(g) Copy of the full Laboratory Analytical Report including dated signature page (laboratory manager or representative) to demonstrate compliance with the timeframes of subdivision A 4 h of this section. The department will accept the lab report in CD-ROM format.

(2) In order to reduce the reporting burden on the owner or operator and potential redundancy within the operating record, a discussion of the second semi-annual or fourth quarterly sampling event results may be presented in the Annual Report submission.

c. Other submissions. Statistically significant increase notifications, well certifications, the first determination report, alternate source demonstration, nature and extent study, assessment of corrective measures, presumptive remedy proposal, corrective action plan or monitoring plan, or other such report or notification types as may be required under 9VAC20-81-250 or 9VAC20-81-260, shall be submitted in a manner which achieves the timeframe requirements as listed in 9VAC20-81-250 or 9VAC20-81-260.

NOTES:

¹Common names are those widely used in government regulations, scientific publications, and commerce; synonyms exist for many chemicals.

²The corresponding Chemical Abstracts Service Index name as used in the 9th Collective Index, may be found in Appendix II of 40 CFR 258.

³Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number. Where "Total" is entered, all species in the groundwater that contains this element are included.

⁴This substance is often called Bis(2-chloroisopropyl) ether, the name Chemical Abstracts Service applies to its noncommercial isomer, Propane, 2.2'-oxybis2-chloro (CAS RN 39638-32-9).

⁵Chlordane: This entry includes alpha-chlordane (CAS RN 5103-71-9), beta-chlordane (CAS RN 5103-74-2), gamma-chlordane (CAS RN 5566-34-7), and constituents of chlordane (CAS RN 57-74-9 and CAS RN 12739-03-6).

⁶Polychlorinated biphenyls (CAS RN 1336-36-3); this category contains congener chemicals, including constituents of Aroclor 1016 (CAS RN 12674-11-2), Aroclor 1221 (CAS RN 11104-28-2), Aroclor 1232 (CAS RN 11141-16-5), Aroclor 1242 (CAS RN 53469-21-9), Aroclor 1248 (CAS RN 12672-29-6), Aroclor 1254 (CAS RN 11097-69-1), and Arclor 1260 (CAS RN 11096-82-5).

⁷Toxaphene: This entry includes congener chemicals contained in technical toxaphene (CAS RN 8001-35-2), i.e., chlorinated camphene.

⁸Xylene (total): This entry includes o-xylene (CAS RN 96-47-6), m-xylene (CAS RN 108-38-3), p-xylene (CAS RN 106-42-3), and unspecified xylenes (dimethylbenzenes) (CAS RN 1330-20-7).

9VAC20-130-10. Definitions.

The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Agricultural waste" means all solid waste produced from farming operations.

"Board" means the Virginia Waste Management Board.

"Commercial waste" means all solid waste generated by establishments engaged in business operations other than manufacturing or construction. This category includes, but is not limited to, solid waste resulting from the operation of stores, markets, office buildings, restaurants and shopping centers.

"Compost" means a stabilized organic product produced by composting in such a manner that the product can be handled, stored, and/or applied to the land.

"Composting" means the manipulation of the natural process of decomposition of organic materials to increase the rate of decomposition.

"Construction waste" means solid waste that is produced or generated during construction, remodeling, or repair of pavements, houses, commercial buildings, and other structures. Construction wastes include, but are not limited to, lumber, wire, sheetrock, broken brick, shingles, glass, pipes, concrete, paving materials, and metal and plastics if the metal or plastics are a part of the materials of construction or empty containers for such materials. Paints, coatings, solvents, asbestos-containing material, any liquid, compressed gases, or semi-liquids and garbage are not construction wastes.

"Debris waste" means solid waste resulting from land clearing operations. Debris wastes include, but are not limited to, stumps, wood, brush, leaves, soil, and road spoils.

"Demolition waste" means solid waste produced by the destruction of structures and their foundations and includes the same materials as construction wastes.

"Department" means the Department of Environmental Quality.

"Director" means the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality or his designee. For purposes of submissions to the director as specified in the Waste Management Act, submissions may be made to the department.

"Disposal" means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of any solid waste into or on any land or water so that such solid waste or any constituent of it may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters.

"Facility" means solid waste management facility unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

"Hazardous waste" means a "hazardous waste" as defined by the Virginia Hazardous Waste Management Regulation, 9VAC20-60.

"Incineration" means the controlled combustion of solid waste for disposal.

"Industrial waste" means any solid waste generated by manufacturing or industrial process that is not a regulated hazardous waste. Such waste may include, but is not limited to, waste resulting from the following manufacturing processes: electric power generation; fertilizer/agricultural chemicals; food and related products/byproducts; inorganic chemicals; iron and steel manufacturing; leather and leather products; nonferrous metals manufacturing/foundries; organic chemicals; plastics and resins manufacturing; pulp and paper industry; rubber and miscellaneous plastic products; stone, glass, clay, and concrete products; textile manufacturing; transportation equipment; and water treatment. This term does not include mining waste or oil and gas waste.

"Institutional waste" means all solid waste emanating from institutions such as, but not limited to, hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, and public or private schools. It can include regulated medical waste from health care facilities and research facilities that must be managed as a regulated medical waste.

"Integrated waste management plan" means a governmental plan that considers all elements of waste management during generation, collection, transportation, treatment, storage, disposal, and litter control and selects the appropriate methods of providing necessary control and services for effective and efficient management of all wastes. An "integrated waste management plan" must provide for source reduction, reuse and recycling within the jurisdiction and the proper funding and management of waste management programs.

"Jurisdiction" means a local governing body; city, county or town; or any independent entity, such as a federal or state agency, which join with local governing bodies to develop a waste management plan.

"Landfill" means a sanitary landfill, an industrial waste landfill, or a construction/demolition/debris landfill (as these terms are defined in the Solid Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-81).

"Litter" means all waste material disposable packages or containers, but not including the wastes of the primary processes of mining, logging, farming, or manufacturing.

"Market" or "markets" means interim or end destinations for the recyclable materials, including a materials recovery facility (MRF).

"Market conditions" means business and system related issues used to determine if materials can be targeted, collected, and delivered to an interim or end market in an efficient manner. Issues may include, but are not limited to: the cost of collection, storage and preparation or both; the cost of transportation; accessible volumes of materials targeted for recycling; market value of materials targeted for collection/recycling; and distance to viable markets.

"Materials recovery facility (MRF)" means, for the purpose of this regulation, a facility for the collection, processing and marketing of recyclable materials including, but not limited to: metal, paper, plastics, and glass.

"Mulch" means woody waste consisting of stumps, trees, limbs, branches, bark, leaves and other clean wood waste that has undergone size reduction by grinding, shredding, or chipping, and is distributed to the general public for landscaping purposes or other horticultural uses, except composting as defined and regulated under the Solid Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-81).

"Municipal solid waste" means waste that is normally composed of residential, commercial, and institutional solid waste and residues derived from the combustion of these wastes.

"Permit" means the written permission of the director to own, operate or construct a solid waste management facility.

"Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, a governmental body, a municipal corporation or any other legal entity.

"Principal recyclable materials (PRMs)" means paper, metal, plastic, glass, commingled yard waste, wood, textiles, tires, used oil, used oil filters, used antifreeze, batteries, electronics, or material as may be approved by the director. Commingled materials refers to single stream collections of recyclables where sorting is done at a materials recovery facility.

"Recycling" means the process of separating a given waste material from the waste stream and processing it so that it may be used again as a raw material for a product, which may or may not be similar to the original product. For the purpose of this chapter, recycling shall not include processes that only involve size reduction.

"Recycling residue" means the (i) nonmetallic substances, including but not limited to plastic, rubber, and insulation, which remain after a shredder has separated for purposes of recycling the ferrous and nonferrous metal from a motor vehicle, appliance or other discarded metallic item and (ii) organic waste remaining after removal of metals, glass, plastics and paper that are to be recycled as part of a resource recovery process for municipal solid waste resulting in the production of a refuse derived fuel.

"Regional boundary" means the boundary defining an area of land that will be a unit for the purpose of developing a waste management plan, and is established in accordance with 9VAC20-130-180 through 9VAC20-130-220.

"Regulated medical waste" means solid wastes so defined by the Regulated Medical Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-120) as promulgated by the Virginia Waste Management Board.

"Residential waste" means any waste material, including garbage, trash and refuse, derived from households. Households include single and multiple residences, hotels and motels, bunkhouses, ranger stations, crew quarters, campgrounds, picnic grounds and day-use recreation areas. Residential wastes do not include sanitary waste in septic tanks (septage), that is regulated by other state agencies.

"Resource recovery system" means a solid waste management system that provides for collection, separation, recycling and recovery of energy or solid wastes, including disposal of nonrecoverable waste residues.

"Reuse" means the process of separating a given solid waste material from the waste stream and using it, without processing or changing its form, other than size reduction, for the same or another end use.

"Sanitary landfill" means an engineered land burial facility for the disposal of household waste, which is so located, designed, constructed and operated to contain and isolate the waste so that it does not pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment. A sanitary landfill also may receive other types of solid wastes, such as commercial solid waste, nonhazardous sludge, hazardous waste from conditionally exempt very small quantity generators, construction demolition debris, and nonhazardous industrial solid waste.

"Site" means all land and structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on them used for treating, storing, and disposing of solid waste. This term includes adjacent land within the facility boundary used for the utility systems such as repair, storage, shipping or processing areas, or other areas incident to the management of solid waste. (Note: This term includes all sites whether they are planned and managed facilities or open dumps.)

"Sludge" means any solid, semisolid or liquid waste generated from a public, municipal, commercial or industrial wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility.

"Solid waste" means any of those materials defined as "solid waste" in the Solid Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-81).

"Solid waste planning unit" means each region or locality that submits a solid waste management plan.

"Solid waste management facility ("SWMF")" means a site used for planned treating, storing, or disposing of solid waste. A facility may consist of several treatment, storage, or disposal units.

"Source reduction" means any action that reduces or eliminates the generation of waste at the source, usually within a process. Source reduction measures include process modifications, feedstock substitutions, improvements in feedstock purity, improvements in housekeeping and management practices, increases in the efficiency of machinery, and recycling within a process. Source reduction minimizes the material that must be managed by waste disposal or nondisposal options by creating less waste. "Source reduction" is also called "waste prevention," "waste minimization," or "waste reduction."

"Source separation" means separation of recyclable materials by the waste generator of materials that are collected for use, reuse, reclamation, or recycling.

"Tons" means 2,000 pounds.

"Transfer station" means any solid waste storage or collection facility at which solid waste is transferred from collection vehicles to haulage vehicles for transportation to a central solid waste management facility for disposal, incineration or resource recovery.

"Vegetative waste" means decomposable materials generated by yard and lawn care or land-clearing activities and includes, but is not limited to, leaves, grass trimmings, and woody wastes such as shrub and tree prunings, bark, limbs, roots, and stumps. For more detail see the Solid Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-81).

"Waste exchange" means any system to identify sources of wastes with potential for use reuse, recycling or reclamation and to facilitate its acquisition by persons who reuse, recycle or reclaim it, with a provision for maintaining confidentiality of trade secrets.

"White goods" means any stoves, washers, hot water heaters or other large appliances. For the purposes of this chapter, this definition also includes, but is not limited to, such Freon-containing appliances as refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, and dehumidifiers.

"Yard waste" means decomposable waste materials generated by yard and lawn care and includes leaves, grass trimmings, brush, wood chips, and shrub and tree trimmings. Yard waste shall not include roots or stumps that exceed six inches in diameter.

VIRGINIA WASTE MANAGEMENT BOARD

Final Regulation

Titles of Regulations: 9VAC20-81. Solid Waste Management Regulations (amending 9VAC20-81-10, 9VAC20-81-95, 9VAC20-81-250).

9VAC20-130. Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Regulations (amending 9VAC20-130-10).

Statutory Authority: 9VAC02-81-10, 9VAC20-81-95, and 9VAC20-81-250: § 10.1-1402 of the Code of Virginia; 42 USC § 6941 et seq.; 40 CFR Parts 257 and 258.

9VAC20-130-10: § 10.1-1411 of the Code of Virginia; 42 USC § 6942(b); 40 CFR Parts 255 and 256.

Effective Date: March 6, 2019.

Agency Contact: Melissa Porterfield, Department of Environmental Quality, 1111 East Main Street, Suite 1400, P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218, telephone (804) 698-4238, FAX (804) 698-4319, or email melissa.porterfield@deq.virginia.gov.

Summary:

The amendments replace the term "conditionally exempt small quantity generator" with the term "very small quantity generator" for consistency with 40 CFR 260.10, which was modified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule.

Part I
Definitions

9VAC20-81-10. Definitions.

The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Active life" means the period of operation beginning with the initial receipt of solid waste and ending at completion of closure activities required by this chapter.

"Active portion" means that part of a facility or unit that has received or is receiving wastes and that has not been closed in accordance with this chapter.

"Agricultural waste" means all solid waste produced from farming operations.

"Airport" means, for the purpose of this chapter, a military airfield or a public-use airport open to the public without prior permission and without restrictions within the physical capacities of available facilities.

"Aquifer" means a geologic formation, group of formations, or a portion of a formation capable of yielding significant quantities of groundwater to wells or springs.

"Ash" means the fly ash or bottom ash residual waste material produced from incineration or burning of solid waste or from any fuel combustion.

"Base flood" see "Hundred-year flood."

"Bedrock" means the rock that underlies soil or other unconsolidated, superficial material at a site.

"Benchmark" means a permanent monument constructed of concrete and set in the ground surface below the frostline with identifying information clearly affixed to it. Identifying information will include the designation of the benchmark as well as the elevation and coordinates on the local or Virginia state grid system.

"Beneficial use" means a use that is of benefit as a substitute for natural or commercial products and does not contribute to adverse effects on health or environment.

"Beneficial use of CCR" means the CCR meet all of the following conditions:

1. The CCR must provide a functional benefit;

2. The CCR must substitute for the use of a virgin material, conserving natural resources that would otherwise need to be obtained through practices, such as extraction;

3. The use of the CCR must meet relevant product specifications, regulatory standards, or design standards when available, and when such standards are not available, the CCR is not used in excess quantities; and

4. When unencapsulated use of CCR involving placement on the land of 12,400 tons or more in nonroadway applications, the user must demonstrate and keep records, and provide such documentation upon request, that environmental releases to groundwater, surface water, soil, and air are comparable to or lower than those from analogous products made without CCR, or that environmental releases to groundwater, surface water, soil, and air will be at or below relevant regulatory and health-based benchmarks for human and ecological receptors during use.

"Bioremediation" means remediation of contaminated media by the manipulation of biological organisms to enhance the degradation of contaminants.

"Bird hazard" means an increase in the likelihood of bird/aircraft collisions that may cause damage to the aircraft or injury to its occupants.

"Board" means the Virginia Waste Management Board.

"Bottom ash" means ash or slag that has been discharged from the bottom of the combustion unit after combustion.

"Capacity" means the maximum permitted volume of solid waste, inclusive of daily and intermediate cover, that can be disposed in a landfill. This volume is measured in cubic yards.

"Captive industrial landfill" means an industrial landfill that is located on property owned or controlled by the generator of the waste disposed of in that landfill.

"CCR landfill" means an area of land or an excavation that receives CCR and that is not a surface impoundment, an underground injection well, a salt dome formation, a salt bed formation, an underground or surface coal mine, or a cave. For purposes of this chapter, a CCR landfill also includes sand and gravel pits and quarries that receive CCR, CCR piles, and any practice that does not meet the definition of a beneficial use of CCR.

"CCR surface impoundment" means a natural topographic depression, man-made excavation, or diked area that is designed to hold an accumulation of CCR and liquids, and the unit treats, stores, or disposes of CCR.

"Clean wood" means solid waste consisting of untreated wood pieces and particles that do not contain paint, laminate, bonding agents, or chemical preservatives or are otherwise unadulterated.

"Closed facility" means a solid waste management facility that has been properly secured in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.

"Closure" means that point in time when a permitted landfill has been capped, certified as properly closed by a professional engineer, inspected by the department, and closure notification is performed by the department in accordance with 9VAC20-81-160 D.

"Coal combustion byproducts" or "CCB" means residuals, including fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and flue gas emission control waste produced by burning coal. CCB includes both CCR and other non-CCR wastes identified in this definition.

"Coal combustion residuals" or "CCR" means fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and flue gas desulfurization materials generated from burning coal for the purpose of generating electricity by electric utilities and independent power producers. CCR is a specific type of CCB.

"Combustion unit" means an incinerator, waste heat recovery unit, or boiler.

"Commercial waste" means all solid waste generated by establishments engaged in business operations other than manufacturing or construction. This category includes, but is not limited to, solid waste resulting from the operation of stores, markets, office buildings, restaurants, and shopping centers.

"Compliance schedule" means a time schedule for measures to be employed on a solid waste management facility that will ultimately upgrade it to conform to this chapter.

"Compost" means a stabilized organic product produced by a controlled aerobic decomposition process in such a manner that the product can be handled, stored, or applied to the land without adversely affecting public health or the environment.

"Composting" means the manipulation of the natural process of decomposition of organic materials to increase the rate of decomposition.

"Conditionally exempt small quantity generator" means a generator of hazardous waste who has been so defined in 40 CFR 261.5, as amended. That section applies to the persons who generate in that calendar month no more than 100 kilograms of hazardous waste or one kilogram of acutely hazardous waste.

"Construction" means the initiation of permanent physical change at a property with the intent of establishing a solid waste management unit. This does not include land-clearing activities, excavation for borrow purposes, activities intended for infrastructure purposes, or activities necessary to obtain Part A siting approval (i.e., advancing of exploratory borings, digging of test pits, groundwater monitoring well installation, etc.).

"Construction/demolition/debris landfill" or "CDD landfill" means a land burial facility engineered, constructed and operated to contain and isolate construction waste, demolition waste, debris waste, split tires, and white goods or combinations of the above solid wastes.

"Construction waste" means solid waste that is produced or generated during construction, remodeling, or repair of pavements, houses, commercial buildings, and other structures. Construction wastes include, but are not limited to lumber, wire, sheetrock, broken brick, shingles, glass, pipes, concrete, paving materials, and metal and plastics if the metal or plastics are a part of the materials of construction or empty containers for such materials. Paints, coatings, solvents, asbestos, any liquid, compressed gases or semi-liquids and garbage are not construction wastes.

"Contaminated soil" means, for the purposes of this chapter, a soil that, as a result of a release or human usage, has absorbed or adsorbed physical, chemical, or radiological substances at concentrations above those consistent with nearby undisturbed soil or natural earth materials.

"Container" means any portable device in which a material is stored, transported, treated, or otherwise handled and includes transport vehicles that are containers themselves (e.g., tank trucks) and containers placed on or in a transport vehicle.

"Containment structure" means a closed vessel such as a tank or cylinder.

"Convenience center" means a collection point for the temporary storage of solid waste provided for individual solid waste generators who choose to transport solid waste generated on their own premises to an established centralized point, rather than directly to a disposal facility. To be classified as a convenience center, the collection point may not receive waste from collection vehicles that have collected waste from more than one real property owner. A convenience center shall be on a system of regularly scheduled collections.

"Cover material" means compactable soil or other approved material that is used to blanket solid waste in a landfill.

"Daily disposal limit" means the amount of solid waste that is permitted to be disposed at the facility and shall be computed on the amount of waste disposed during any operating day.

"Debris waste" means wastes resulting from land-clearing operations. Debris wastes include, but are not limited to stumps, wood, brush, leaves, soil, and road spoils.

"Decomposed vegetative waste" means a stabilized organic product produced from vegetative waste by a controlled natural decay process in such a manner that the product can be handled, stored, or applied to the land without adversely affecting public health or the environment.

"Demolition waste" means that solid waste that is produced by the destruction of structures and their foundations and includes the same materials as construction wastes.

"Department" means the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

"Director" means the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality. For purposes of submissions to the director as specified in the Waste Management Act, submissions may be made to the department.

"Discard" means to abandon, dispose of, burn, incinerate, accumulate, store, or treat before or instead of being abandoned, disposed of, burned, or incinerated.

"Discarded material" means a material that is:

1. Abandoned by being:

a. Disposed of;

b. Burned or incinerated; or

c. Accumulated, stored, or treated (but not used, reused, or reclaimed) before or in lieu of being abandoned by being disposed of, burned, or incinerated; or

2. Recycled used, reused, or reclaimed material as defined in this part.

"Disclosure statement" means a sworn statement or affirmation as required by § 10.1-1400 of the Code of Virginia (see DEQ Form DISC-01 and 02 (Disclosure Statement)).

"Displacement" means the relative movement of any two sides of a fault measured in any direction.

"Disposal" means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any solid waste into or on any land or water so that such solid waste or any constituent of it may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters.

"Disposal unit boundary" or "DUB" means the vertical plane located at the edge of the waste disposal unit. This vertical plane extends down into the uppermost aquifer. The DUB must be positioned within or coincident to the waste management boundary.

"EPA" means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"Exempt management facility" means a site used for activities that are conditionally exempt from management as a solid waste under this chapter. The facility remains exempt from solid waste management requirements provided it complies with the applicable conditions set forth in Parts II (9VAC20-81-20 et seq.) and IV (9VAC20-81-300 et seq.) of this chapter.

"Existing CCR landfill" means a CCR landfill that receives CCR both before and after October 19, 2015, or for which construction commenced prior to October 19, 2015, and receives CCR on or after October 19, 2015. A CCR landfill has commenced construction if the owner or operator has obtained the federal, state, and local approvals or permits necessary to begin physical construction and a continuous onsite, physical construction program had begun prior to October 19, 2015.

"Existing CCR surface impoundment" means a CCR surface impoundment that receives CCR both before and after October 19, 2015, or for which construction commenced prior to October 19, 2015, and receives CCR on or after October 19, 2015. A CCR surface impoundment has commenced construction if the owner or operator has obtained the federal, state, and local approvals or permits necessary to begin physical construction and a continuous onsite, physical construction program had begun prior to October 19, 2015.

"Expansion" means a horizontal expansion of the waste management boundary as identified in the Part A application. If a facility's permit was issued prior to the establishment of the Part A process, an expansion is a horizontal expansion of the disposal unit boundary.

"Facility" means solid waste management facility unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

"Facility boundary" means the boundary of the solid waste management facility. For landfills, this boundary encompasses the waste management boundary and all ancillary activities including, but not limited to scales, groundwater monitoring wells, gas monitoring probes, and maintenance facilities as identified in the facility's permit application. For facilities with a permit-by-rule (PBR) the facility boundary is the boundary of the property where the permit-by-rule activity occurs. For unpermitted solid waste management facilities, the facility boundary is the boundary of the property line where the solid waste is located.

"Facility structure" means any building, shed, or utility or drainage line on the facility.

"Fault" means a fracture or a zone of fractures in any material along which strata on one side have been displaced with respect to that on the other side.

"Floodplain" means the lowland and relatively flat areas adjoining inland and coastal waters, including low-lying areas of offshore islands where flooding occurs.

"Fly ash" means ash particulate collected from air pollution attenuation devices on combustion units.

"Food-chain crops" means crops grown for human consumption, tobacco, and crops grown for pasture and forage or feed for animals whose products are consumed by humans.

"Fossil fuel combustion products" means coal combustion byproducts as defined in this regulation, coal combustion byproducts generated at facilities with fluidized bed combustion technology, petroleum coke combustion byproducts, byproducts from the combustion of oil, byproducts from the combustion of natural gas, and byproducts from the combustion of mixtures of coal and "other fuels" (i.e., co-burning of coal with "other fuels" where coal is at least 50% of the total fuel). For purposes of this definition, "other fuels" means waste-derived fuel product, auto shredder fluff, wood wastes, coal mill rejects, peat, tall oil, tire-derived fuel, deionizer resins, and used oil.

"Free liquids" means liquids that readily separate from the solid portion of a waste under ambient temperature and pressure as determined by the Paint Filter Liquids Test, Method 9095, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Publication SW-846.

"Garbage" means readily putrescible discarded materials composed of animal, vegetable or other organic matter.

"Gas condensate" means the liquid generated as a result of gas control or recovery processes at the solid waste management facility.

"Governmental unit" means any department, institution, or commission of the Commonwealth and any public corporate instrumentality thereof, and any district, and shall include local governments.

"Ground rubber" means material processed from waste tires that is no larger than 1/4 inch in any dimension. This includes crumb rubber that is measured in mesh sizes.

"Groundwater" means water below the land surface in a zone of saturation.

"Hazardous constituent" means a constituent of solid waste found listed in Appendix VIII of 9VAC20-60-261.

"Hazardous waste" means a "hazardous waste" as described by the Virginia Hazardous Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-60).

"Holocene" means the most recent epoch of the Quaternary period, extending from the end of the Pleistocene Epoch to the present.

"Home use" means the use of compost for growing plants that is produced and used on a privately owned residential site.

"Host agreement" means any lease, contract, agreement, or land use permit entered into or issued by the locality in which the landfill is situated that includes terms or conditions governing the operation of the landfill.

"Household hazardous waste" means any waste material derived from households (including single and multiple residences, hotels, motels, bunkhouses, ranger stations, crew quarters, campgrounds, picnic grounds, and day-use recreation areas) which, except for the fact that it is derived from a household, would otherwise be classified as a hazardous waste in accordance with 9VAC20-60.

"Household waste" means any waste material, including garbage, trash, and refuse, derived from households. Households include single and multiple residences, hotels and motels, bunkhouses, ranger stations, crew quarters, campgrounds, picnic grounds, and day-use recreation areas. Household wastes do not include sanitary waste in septic tanks (septage) that is regulated by other state agencies.

"Hundred-year flood" means a flood that has a 1.0% or greater chance of recurring in any given year or a flood of magnitude equaled or exceeded on the average only once in a hundred years on the average over a significantly long period.

"Inactive CCR surface impoundment" means a CCR surface impoundment that no longer receives CCR on or after October 19, 2015, and still contains both CCR and liquids on or after October 19, 2015.

"Incineration" means the controlled combustion of solid waste for disposal.

"Incinerator" means a facility or device designed for the treatment of solid waste by combustion.

"Industrial waste" means any solid waste generated by manufacturing or industrial process that is not a regulated hazardous waste. Such waste may include, but is not limited to, waste resulting from the following manufacturing processes: electric power generation; fertilizer/agricultural chemicals; food and related products/byproducts; inorganic chemicals; iron and steel manufacturing; leather and leather products; nonferrous metals manufacturing/foundries; organic chemicals; plastics and resins manufacturing; pulp and paper industry; rubber and miscellaneous plastic products; stone, glass, clay, and concrete products; textile manufacturing; transportation equipment; and water treatment. This term does not include mining waste or oil and gas waste.

"Industrial waste landfill" means a solid waste landfill used primarily for the disposal of a specific industrial waste or a waste that is a byproduct of a production process.

"Injection well" means, for the purposes of this chapter, a well or bore hole into which fluids are injected into selected geological horizons.

"Institutional waste" means all solid waste emanating from institutions such as, but not limited to, hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, and public or private schools. It can include regulated medical waste from health care facilities and research facilities that must be managed as a regulated medical waste.

"Interim cover systems" means temporary cover systems applied to a landfill area when landfilling operations will be temporarily suspended for an extended period (typically, longer than one year). At the conclusion of the interim period, the interim cover system may be removed and landfilling operations resume or final cover is installed.

"Karst topography" means areas where karst terrane, with its characteristic surface and subterranean features, is developed as the result of dissolution of limestone, dolomite, or other soluble rock. Characteristic physiographic features present in karst terranes include, but are not limited to, sinkholes, sinking streams, caves, large springs, and blind valleys.

"Key personnel" means the applicant itself and any person employed by the applicant in a managerial capacity, or empowered to make discretionary decisions, with respect to the solid waste or hazardous waste operations of the applicant in Virginia, but shall not include employees exclusively engaged in the physical or mechanical collection, transportation, treatment, storage, or disposal of solid or hazardous waste and such other employees as the director may designate by regulation. If the applicant has not previously conducted solid waste or hazardous waste operations in Virginia, the term also includes any officer, director, partner of the applicant, or any holder of 5.0% or more of the equity or debt of the applicant. If any holder of 5.0% or more of the equity or debt of the applicant or of any key personnel is not a natural person, the term includes all key personnel of that entity, provided that where such entity is a chartered lending institution or a reporting company under the Federal Security and Exchange Act of 1934, the term does not include key personnel of such entity. Provided further that the term means the chief executive officer of any agency of the United States or of any agency or political subdivision of the Commonwealth, and all key personnel of any person, other than a natural person, that operates a landfill or other facility for the disposal, treatment, or storage of nonhazardous solid waste under contract with or for one of those governmental entities.

"Lagoon" means a body of water or surface impoundment designed to manage or treat waste water.

"Land-clearing activities" means the removal of flora from a parcel of land.

"Land-clearing debris" means vegetative waste resulting from land-clearing activities.

"Landfill" means a sanitary landfill, an industrial waste landfill, or a construction/demolition/debris landfill.

"Landfill gas" means gas generated as a byproduct of the decomposition of organic materials in a landfill. Landfill gas consists primarily of methane and carbon dioxide.

"Landfill mining" means the process of excavating solid waste from an existing landfill.

"Leachate" means a liquid that has passed through or emerged from solid waste and contains soluble, suspended, or miscible materials from such waste. Leachate and any material with which it is mixed is solid waste; except that leachate that is pumped from a collection tank for transportation to disposal in an offsite facility is regulated as septage, leachate discharged into a waste water collection system is regulated as industrial waste water and leachate that has contaminated groundwater is regulated as contaminated groundwater.

"Lead acid battery" means, for the purposes of this chapter, any wet cell battery.

"Lift" means the daily landfill layer of compacted solid waste plus the cover material.

"Liquid waste" means any waste material that is determined to contain "free liquids" as defined by this chapter.

"Lithified earth material" means all rock, including all naturally occurring and naturally formed aggregates or masses of minerals or small particles of older rock, that formed by crystallization of magma or by induration of loose sediments. This term does not include man-made materials, such as fill, concrete, and asphalt, or unconsolidated earth materials, soil, or regolith lying at or near the earth's surface.

"Litter" means, for purposes of this chapter, any solid waste that is discarded or scattered about a solid waste management facility outside the immediate working area.

"Lower explosive limit" means the lowest concentration by volume of a mixture of explosive gases in air that will propagate a flame at 25°C and at atmospheric pressure.

"Materials recovery facility" means a solid waste management facility for the collection, processing, and recovery of material such as metals from solid waste or for the production of a fuel from solid waste. This does not include the production of a waste-derived fuel product.

"Maximum horizontal acceleration in lithified earth material" means the maximum expected horizontal acceleration depicted on a seismic hazard map, with a 90% or greater probability that the acceleration will not be exceeded in 250 years, or the maximum expected horizontal acceleration based on a site-specific seismic risk assessment.

"Monitoring" means all methods, procedures, and techniques used to systematically analyze, inspect, and collect data on operational parameters of the facility or on the quality of air, groundwater, surface water, and soils.

"Monitoring well" means a well point below the ground surface for the purpose of obtaining periodic water samples from groundwater for quantitative and qualitative analysis.

"Mulch" means woody waste consisting of stumps, trees, limbs, branches, bark, leaves and other clean wood waste that has undergone size reduction by grinding, shredding, or chipping, and is distributed to the general public for landscaping purposes or other horticultural uses except composting as defined and regulated under this chapter.

"Municipal solid waste" means that waste that is normally composed of residential, commercial, and institutional solid waste and residues derived from combustion of these wastes.

"New CCR landfill" means a CCR landfill or lateral expansion of a CCR landfill that first receives CCR or commences construction after October 19, 2015. A new CCR landfill has commenced construction if the owner or operator has obtained the federal, state, and local approvals or permits necessary to begin physical construction and a continuous onsite, physical construction program had begun after October 19, 2015. Overfills are also considered new CCR landfills.

"New CCR surface impoundment" means a CCR surface impoundment or lateral expansion of an existing or new CCR surface impoundment that first receives CCR or commences construction after October 19, 2015. A new CCR surface impoundment has commenced construction if the owner or operator has obtained the federal, state, and local approvals or permits necessary to begin physical construction and a continuous onsite, physical construction program had begun after October 19, 2015.

"New solid waste management facility" means a facility or a portion of a facility that was not included in a previous determination of site suitability (Part A approval).

"Nuisance" means an activity that unreasonably interferes with an individual's or the public's comfort, convenience or enjoyment such that it interferes with the rights of others by causing damage, annoyance, or inconvenience.

"Offsite" means any site that does not meet the definition of onsite as defined in this part.

"Onsite" means the same or geographically contiguous property, which may be divided by public or private right-of-way, provided the entrance and exit to the facility are controlled by the owner or the operator of the facility. Noncontiguous properties owned by the same person, but connected by a right-of-way that he controls and to which the public does not have access, are also considered onsite property.

"Open burning" means the combustion of solid waste without:

1. Control of combustion air to maintain adequate temperature for efficient combustion;

2. Containment of the combustion reaction in an enclosed device to provide sufficient residence time and mixing for complete combustion; and

3. Control of the combustion products' emission.

"Open dump" means a site on which any solid waste is placed, discharged, deposited, injected, dumped, or spilled so as to present a threat of a release of harmful substances into the environment or present a hazard to human health. Such a site is subject to the Open Dump Criteria in 9VAC20-81-45.

"Operating record" means records required to be maintained in accordance with the facility permit or this part (see 9VAC20-81-530).

"Operation" means all waste management activities at a solid waste management facility beginning with the initial receipt of solid waste for treatment, storage, disposal, or transfer and ceasing with the initiation of final closure activities at the solid waste management facility subsequent to the final receipt of waste.

"Operator" means the person responsible for the overall operation and site management of a solid waste management facility.

"Owner" means the person who owns a solid waste management facility or part of a solid waste management facility.

"PCB" means any chemical substance that is limited to the biphenyl molecule that has been chlorinated to varying degrees or any combination of substances that contain such substance (see 40 CFR 761.3, as amended).

"Perennial stream" means a well-defined channel that contains water year round during a year of normal rainfall. Generally, the water table is located above the streambed for most of the year and groundwater is the primary source for stream flow. A perennial stream exhibits the typical biological, hydrological, and physical characteristics commonly associated with the continuous conveyance of water.

"Permit" means the written permission of the director to own, operate, or construct a solid waste management facility.

"Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, a governmental body, a municipal corporation, or any other legal entity.

"Point source" means any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, vessel, or other floating craft, from which pollutants are or may be discharged. Return flows from irrigated agriculture are not included.

"Pollutant" means any substance that causes or contributes to, or may cause or contribute to, environmental degradation when discharged into the environment.

"Poor foundation conditions" means those areas where features exist that indicate that a natural or man-induced event may result in inadequate foundation support for the structural components of a solid waste management facility.

"Postclosure" means the requirements placed upon solid waste disposal facilities after closure to ensure environmental and public health safety for a specified number of years after closure.

"Process rate" means the maximum rate of waste acceptance that a solid waste management facility can process for treatment and storage. This rate is limited by the capabilities of equipment, personnel, and infrastructure.

"Processing" means preparation, treatment, or conversion of waste by a series of actions, changes, or functions that bring about a desired end result.

"Professional engineer" means an engineer licensed to practice engineering in the Commonwealth as defined by the rules and regulations set forth by the Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (18VAC10-20).

"Professional geologist" means a geologist licensed to practice geology in the Commonwealth as defined by the rules and regulations set forth by the Board for Professional Soil Scientists, Wetland Professionals, and Geologists (18VAC145-40).

"Progressive cover" means cover material placed over the working face of a solid waste disposal facility advancing over the deposited waste as new wastes are added keeping the exposed area to a minimum.

"Putrescible waste" means solid waste that contains organic material capable of being decomposed by micro-organisms and cause odors.

"Qualified groundwater scientist" means a scientist or engineer who has received a baccalaureate or postgraduate degree in the natural sciences or engineering and has sufficient training and experience in groundwater hydrology and related fields as may be demonstrated by professional certifications or completion of accredited university programs that enable that individual to make sound professional judgments regarding groundwater monitoring, contaminant fate and transport, and corrective action.

"RCRA" means the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (42 USC § 6901 et seq.), the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984, and any other applicable amendments to these laws.

"Reclaimed material" means a material that is processed or reprocessed to recover a usable product or is regenerated to a usable form.

"Refuse" means all solid waste products having the character of solids rather than liquids and that are composed wholly or partially of materials such as garbage, trash, rubbish, litter, residues from clean up of spills or contamination, or other discarded materials.

"Refuse-derived fuel (RDF)" means a type of municipal solid waste produced by processing municipal solid waste through shredding and size classification. This includes all classes of refuse-derived fuel including low-density fluff refuse-derived fuel through densified refuse-derived fuel and pelletized refuse-derived fuel.

"Regulated hazardous waste" means a solid waste that is a hazardous waste, as defined in the Virginia Hazardous Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-60), that is not excluded from those regulations as a hazardous waste.

"Regulated medical waste" means solid wastes so defined by the Regulated Medical Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-120) as promulgated by the Virginia Waste Management Board.

"Release" means, for the purpose of this chapter, any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injection, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the environment solid wastes or hazardous constituents of solid wastes (including the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers, and other closed receptacles containing solid waste). This definition does not include any release that results in exposure to persons solely within a workplace; release of source, byproduct, or special nuclear material from a nuclear incident, as those terms are defined in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (68 Stat. 923); and the normal application of fertilizer. For the purpose of this chapter, release also means substantial threat of release.

"Remediation waste" means all solid waste, including all media (groundwater, surface water, soils, and sediments) and debris, that are managed for the purpose of remediating a site in accordance with 9VAC20-81-45 or Part III (9VAC20-81-100 et seq.) of this chapter or under the Voluntary Remediation Regulations (9VAC20-160) or other regulated remediation program under DEQ oversight. For a given facility, remediation wastes may originate only from within the boundary of that facility, and may include wastes managed as a result of remediation beyond the boundary of the facility. Hazardous wastes as defined in 9VAC20-60, as well as "new" or "as generated" wastes, are excluded from this definition.

"Remediation waste management unit" or "RWMU" means an area within a facility that is designated by the director for the purpose of implementing remedial activities required under this chapter or otherwise approved by the director. An RWMU shall only be used for the management of remediation wastes pursuant to implementing such remedial activities at the facility.

"Responsible official" means one of the following:

1. For a business entity, such as a corporation, association, limited liability company, or cooperative: a duly authorized representative of such business entity if the representative is responsible for the overall operation of one or more operating facilities applying for or subject to a permit. The authority to sign documents must be assigned or delegated to such representative in accordance with procedures of the business entity;

2. For a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or the proprietor, respectively; or

3. For a municipality, state, federal, or other public agency: a duly authorized representative of the locality if the representative is responsible for the overall operation of one or more operating facilities applying for or subject to a permit. The authority to sign documents must be assigned or delegated to such representative in accordance with procedures of the locality.

"Rubbish" means combustible or slowly putrescible discarded materials that include but are not limited to trees, wood, leaves, trimmings from shrubs or trees, printed matter, plastic and paper products, grass, rags and other combustible or slowly putrescible materials not included under the term "garbage."

"Runoff" means any rainwater, leachate, or other liquid that drains over land from any part of a solid waste management facility.

"Run-on" means any rainwater, wastewater, leachate, or other liquid that drains over land onto any part of the solid waste management facility.

"Salvage" means the authorized, controlled removal of waste materials from a solid waste management facility.

"Sanitary landfill" means an engineered land burial facility for the disposal of household waste that is so located, designed, constructed, and operated to contain and isolate the waste so that it does not pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment. A sanitary landfill also may receive other types of solid wastes, such as commercial solid waste, nonhazardous sludge, hazardous waste from conditionally exempt very small quantity generators, construction demolition debris, and nonhazardous industrial solid waste.

"Saturated zone" means that part of the earth's crust in which all voids are filled with water.

"Scavenging" means the unauthorized or uncontrolled removal of waste materials from a solid waste management facility.

"Scrap metal" means metal parts such as bars, rods, wire, empty containers, or metal pieces that are discarded material and can be used, reused, or reclaimed.

"Secondary containment" means an enclosure into which a container or tank is placed for the purpose of preventing discharge of wastes to the environment.

"Seismic impact zone" means an area with a 10% or greater probability that the maximum horizontal acceleration in lithified earth material, expressed as a percentage of the earth's gravitational pull (g), will exceed 0.10g in 250 years.

"Semiannual" means an interval corresponding to approximately 180 days. For the purposes of scheduling monitoring activities, sampling within 30 days of the 180-day interval will be considered semiannual.

"Site" means all land and structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on them used for treating, storing, and disposing of solid waste. This term includes adjacent land within the facility boundary used for the utility systems such as repair, storage, shipping or processing areas, or other areas incident to the management of solid waste.

"Sludge" means any solid, semi-solid or liquid waste generated from a municipal, commercial or industrial wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility exclusive of treated effluent from a wastewater treatment plant.

"Small landfill" means a landfill that disposed of 100 tons/day or less of solid waste during a representative period prior to October 9, 1993, and did not dispose of more than an average of 100 tons/day of solid waste each month between October 9, 1993, and April 9, 1994.

"Solid waste" means any of those materials defined as "solid waste" in 9VAC20-81-95.

"Solid waste disposal facility" means a solid waste management facility at which solid waste will remain after closure.

"Solid waste management facility" or "SWMF" means a site used for planned treating, storing, or disposing of solid waste. A facility may consist of several treatment, storage, or disposal units.

"Special wastes" means solid wastes that are difficult to handle, require special precautions because of hazardous properties, or the nature of the waste creates waste management problems in normal operations. (See Part VI (9VAC20-81-610 et seq.) of this chapter.)

"Speculatively accumulated material" means any material that is accumulated before being used, reused, or reclaimed or in anticipation of potential use, reuse, or reclamation. Materials are not being accumulated speculatively when they can be used, reused, or reclaimed, have a feasible means of use, reuse, or reclamation available and 75% of the materials accumulated are being removed from the facility annually.

"State waters" means all water, on the surface and under the ground, wholly or partially within, or bordering the Commonwealth, or within its jurisdiction.

"Storage" means the holding of waste, at the end of which the waste is treated, disposed, or stored elsewhere.

"Structural fill" means an engineered fill with a projected beneficial end use, constructed using soil or fossil fuel combustion products, when done in accordance with this chapter, spread and compacted with proper equipment, and covered with a vegetated soil cap.

"Sudden event" means a one-time, single event such as a sudden collapse or a sudden, quick release of contaminants to the environment. An example would be the sudden loss of leachate from an impoundment into a surface stream caused by failure of a containment structure.

"Surface impoundment" or "impoundment" means a facility or part of a facility that is a natural topographic depression, man-made excavation, or diked area formed primarily of earthen materials (although it may be lined with man-made materials), that is designed to hold an accumulation of liquid wastes or wastes containing free liquids and that is not an injection well.

"Surface waters" means all state waters that are not groundwater as defined in § 62.1-255 of the Code of Virginia.

"SW-846" means Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, Physical/Chemical Methods, EPA Publication SW-846, Second Edition, 1982 as amended by Update I (April, 1984), and Update II (April, 1985) and the third edition, November, 1986, as amended.

"Tank" means a stationary device, designed to contain an accumulation of liquid or semi-liquid components of solid waste that is constructed primarily of nonearthen materials that provide structural support.

"TEF" or "Toxicity Equivalency Factor" means a factor developed to account for different toxicities of structural isomers of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans and to relate them to the toxicity of 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro dibenzo-p-dioxin.

"Terminal" means the location of transportation facilities such as classification yards, docks, airports, management offices, storage sheds, and freight or passenger stations, where solid waste that is being transported may be loaded, unloaded, transferred, or temporarily stored.

"Thermal treatment" means the treatment of solid waste in a device that uses elevated temperature as the primary means to change the chemical, physical, or biological character, or composition of the solid waste.

"Tire chip" means a material processed from waste tires that is a nominal two square inches in size, and ranges from 1/4 inch to four inches in any dimension. Tire chips contain no wire protruding more than 1/4 inch.

"Tire shred" means a material processed from waste tires that is a nominal 40 square inches in size, and ranges from four inches to 10 inches in any dimension.

"Transfer station" means any solid waste storage or collection facility at which solid waste is transferred from collection vehicles to haulage vehicles for transportation to a central solid waste management facility for disposal, incineration, or resource recovery.

"Trash" means combustible and noncombustible discarded materials and is used interchangeably with the term rubbish.

"Treatment" means, for the purpose of this chapter, any method, technique, or process, including but not limited to incineration, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any waste to render it more stable, safer for transport, or more amenable to use, reuse, reclamation, recovery, or disposal.

"Underground source of drinking water" means an aquifer or its portion:

1. Which contains water suitable for human consumption; or

2. In which the groundwater contains less than 10,000 mg/liter total dissolved solids.

"Unit" means a discrete area of land used for the disposal of solid waste.

"Unstable area" means a location that is susceptible to natural or human-induced events or forces capable of impairing the integrity of some or all of the landfill structural components responsible for preventing releases from a landfill. Unstable areas can include poor foundation conditions, areas susceptible to mass movements, and karst terranes.

"Uppermost aquifer" means the geologic formation nearest the natural ground surface that is an aquifer, as well as, lower aquifers that are hydraulically interconnected with this aquifer within the facility boundary.

"Used or reused material" means a material that is either:

1. Employed as an ingredient (including use as an intermediate) in a process to make a product, excepting those materials possessing distinct components that are recovered as separate end products; or

2. Employed in a particular function or application as an effective substitute for a commercial product or natural resources.

"Vector" means a living animal, insect, or other arthropod that transmits an infectious disease from one organism to another.

"Vegetative waste" means decomposable materials generated by yard and lawn care or land-clearing activities and includes, but is not limited to, leaves, grass trimmings, woody wastes such as shrub and tree prunings, bark, limbs, roots, and stumps.

"Vermicomposting" means the controlled and managed process by which live worms convert organic residues into fertile excrement.

"Vertical design capacity" means the maximum design elevation specified in the facility's permit or if none is specified in the permit, the maximum elevation based on a 3:1 slope from the waste disposal unit boundary.

"Very small quantity generator" means a generator of hazardous waste as defined in 40 CFR 260.10 as incorporated by reference in 9VAC20-60-260 that generates less than or equal to the following amounts in a calendar month: (i) 100 kilograms of nonacute hazardous waste; (ii) one kilogram of acute hazardous waste; and (iii) 100 kilograms of any residue or contaminated soil, water, or other debris resulting from the cleanup of a spill into or on any land or water of acute hazardous waste.

"VPDES" (Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) means the Virginia system for the issuance of permits pursuant to the Permit Regulation (9VAC25-31), the State Water Control Law (§ 62.1-44.2 et seq. of the Code of Virginia), and § 402 of the Clean Water Act (33 USC § 1251 et seq.).

"Washout" means carrying away of solid waste by waters of the base flood.

"Waste-derived fuel product" means a solid waste or combination of solid wastes that have been treated (altered physically, chemically, or biologically) to produce a fuel product with a minimum heating value of 5,000 BTU/lb. Solid wastes used to produce a waste-derived fuel product must have a heating value, or act as binders, and may not be added to the fuel for the purpose of disposal. Waste ingredients may not be listed or characteristic hazardous wastes. The fuel product must be stable at ambient temperature, and not degraded by exposure to the elements. This material may not be "refuse derived fuel (RDF)" as defined in 9VAC5-40-890.

"Waste management boundary" means the vertical plane located at the boundary line of the area approved in the Part A application for the disposal of solid waste and storage of leachate. This vertical plane extends down into the uppermost aquifer and is within the facility boundary.

"Waste pile" means any noncontainerized accumulation of nonflowing, solid waste that is used for treatment or storage.

"Waste tire" means a tire that has been discarded because it is no longer suitable for its original intended purpose because of wear, damage or defect. (See 9VAC20-150 for other definitions dealing with the waste tire program.)

"Wastewaters" means, for the purpose of this chapter, wastes that contain less than 1.0% by weight total organic carbon (TOC) and less than 1.0% by weight total suspended solids (TSS).

"Water pollution" means such alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological properties of any state water as will or is likely to create a nuisance or render such waters:

1. Harmful or detrimental or injurious to the public health, safety, or welfare, or to the health of animals, fish, or aquatic life or plants;

2. Unsuitable, with reasonable treatment, for use as present or possible future sources of public water supply; or

3. Unsuitable for recreational, commercial, industrial, agricultural, or other reasonable uses, provided that:

a. An alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological properties of state waters or a discharge or deposit of sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes to state waters by any owner that by itself is not sufficient to cause pollution but which in combination with such alteration or discharge or deposit to state waters by other persons is sufficient to cause pollution;

b. The discharge of untreated sewage by any person into state waters; and

c. The contribution to the degradation of water quality standards duly established by the State Water Control Board, are "pollution" for the terms and purposes of this chapter.

"Water table" means the upper surface of the zone of saturation in groundwaters in which the hydrostatic pressure is equal to the atmospheric pressure.

"Waters of the United States" or "waters of the U.S." means:

1. All waters that are currently used, were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including all waters that are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide;

2. All interstate waters, including interstate "wetlands";

3. All other waters such as intrastate lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mud flats, sand flats, "wetlands," sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, or natural ponds the use, degradation, or destruction of which would affect or could affect interstate or foreign commerce including:

a. Any such waters that are or could be used by interstate or foreign travelers for recreational or other purposes;

b. Any such waters from which fish or shellfish are or could be taken and sold in interstate or foreign commerce;

c. Any such waters that are used or could be used for industrial purposes by industries in interstate commerce;

d. All impoundments of waters otherwise defined as waters of the United States under this definition;

e. Tributaries of waters identified in subdivisions 3 a through d of this definition;

f. The territorial sea; and

g. Wetlands adjacent to waters (other than waters that are themselves wetlands) identified in subdivisions 3 a through f of this definition.

"Wetlands" means those areas that are defined by the federal regulations under 33 CFR Part 328, as amended.

"White goods" means any stoves, washers, hot water heaters, and other large appliances.

"Working face" means that area within a landfill that is actively receiving solid waste for compaction and cover.

"Yard waste" means a subset of vegetative waste and means decomposable waste materials generated by yard and lawn care and includes leaves, grass trimmings, brush, wood chips, and shrub and tree trimmings. Yard waste shall not include roots or stumps that exceed 12 inches in diameter.

9VAC20-81-95. Identification of solid waste.

A. Wastes identified in this section are solid wastes that are subject to this chapter unless regulated pursuant to other applicable regulations issued by the department.

B. Except as otherwise provided, the definition of solid waste per 40 CFR 261.2 as incorporated by 9VAC20-60-261, as amended, is also hereby incorporated as part of this chapter. Except as otherwise provided, all material definitions, reference materials and other ancillaries that are a part of 9VAC20-60-261, as amended, are also hereby incorporated as part of this chapter as well.

C. Except as otherwise modified or excepted by 9VAC20-60, the materials listed in the regulations of the United States Environmental Protection Agency set forth in 40 CFR 261.4(a) are considered a solid waste for the purposes of this chapter. However, these materials are not regulated under the provisions of this chapter if all conditions specified therein are met. This list and all material definitions, reference materials and other ancillaries that are part of 40 CFR Part 261.4(a), as incorporated, modified or accepted by 9VAC20-60 are incorporated as part of this chapter. In addition, the following materials are not solid wastes for the purpose of this chapter:

1. Materials generated by any of the following, which are returned to the soil as fertilizers:

a. The growing and harvesting of agricultural crops.

b. The raising and husbanding of animals, including animal manures and used animal bedding.

2. Mining overburden returned to the mine site.

3. Recyclable materials used in manner constituting disposal per 9VAC20-60-266.

4. Wood wastes burned for energy recovery.

5. Materials that are:

a. Used or reused, or prepared for use or reuse, as an ingredient in an industrial process to make a product, or as effective substitutes for commercial products or natural resources provided the materials are not being reclaimed or accumulated speculatively; or

b. Returned to the original process from which they are generated.

6. Materials that are beneficially used as determined by the department under this subsection. The department may consider other waste materials and uses to be beneficial in accordance with the provisions of 9VAC20-81-97.

7. The following materials and uses listed in this part are exempt from this chapter as long as they are managed so that they do not create an open dump, hazard, or public nuisance. These materials and the designated use are considered a beneficial use of waste materials:

a. Clean wood, wood chips, or bark from land clearing, logging operations, utility line clearing and maintenance operations, pulp and paper production, and wood products manufacturing, when these materials are placed in commerce for service as mulch, landscaping, animal bedding, erosion control, habitat mitigation, wetlands restoration, or bulking agent at a compost facility operated in compliance with Part IV (9VAC20-81-300 et seq.) of this chapter;

b. Clean wood combustion residues when used for pH adjustment in compost, liquid absorbent in compost, or as a soil amendment or fertilizer, provided the application rate of the wood ash is limited to the nutrient need of the crop grown on the land on which the wood combustion residues will be applied and provided that such application meets the requirements of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (2VAC5-400 and 2VAC5-410);

c. Compost that satisfies the applicable requirements of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (2VAC5-400 and 2VAC5-410);

d. Nonhazardous, contaminated soil that has been excavated as part of a construction project and that is used as backfill for the same excavation or excavations containing similar contaminants at the same site, at concentrations at the same level or higher. Excess contaminated soil from these projects is subject to the requirements of this chapter;

e. Nonhazardous petroleum contaminated soil that has been treated to the satisfaction of the department in accordance with 9VAC20-81-660;

f. Nonhazardous petroleum contaminated soil when incorporated into asphalt pavement products;

g. Solid wastes that are approved in advance of the placement, in writing, by the department or that are specifically mentioned in the facility permit for use as alternate daily cover material or other protective materials for landfill liner or final cover system components;

h. Fossil fuel combustion products that are not CCR when used as a material in the manufacturing of another product (e.g., concrete, concrete products, lightweight aggregate, roofing materials, plastics, paint, flowable fill) or as a substitute for a product or material resource (e.g., blasting grit, roofing granules, filter cloth pre-coat for sludge dewatering, pipe bedding);

i. Tire chips and tire shred when used as a sub-base fill for road base materials or asphalt pavements when approved by the Virginia Department of Transportation or by a local governing body;

j. Tire chips, tire shred, and ground rubber used in the production of commercial products such as mats, pavement sealers, playground surfaces, brake pads, blasting mats, and other rubberized commercial products;

k. Tire chips and tire shred when used as backfill in landfill gas or leachate collection pipes, recirculation lines, and drainage material in landfill liner and cover systems, and gas interception or remediation applications;

l. Waste tires, tire chips or tire shred when burned for energy recovery or when used in pyrolysis, gasification, or similar treatment process to produce fuel;

m. Waste-derived fuel product, as defined in 9VAC20-81-10, derived from nonhazardous solid waste;

n. Uncontaminated concrete and concrete products, asphalt pavement, brick, glass, soil, and rock placed in commerce for service as a substitute for conventional aggregate; and

o. Clean, ground gypsum wallboard when used as a soil amendment or fertilizer, provided the following conditions are met:

(1) No components of the gypsum wallboard have been glued, painted, or otherwise contaminated from manufacture or use (e.g., waterproof or fireproof drywall) unless otherwise processed to remove contaminants.

(2) The gypsum wallboard shall be processed so that 95% of the gypsum wallboard is less than 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch in size, unless an alternate size is approved by the department.

(3) The gypsum wallboard shall be applied only to agricultural, silvicultural, landscaped, or mined lands or roadway construction sites that need fertilization.

(4) The application rate for the ground gypsum wallboard shall not exceed the following rates.

D. The following activities are conditionally exempt from this chapter provided no open dump, hazard, or public nuisance is created:

1. Composting of sewage sludge at the sewage treatment plant of generation without addition of other types of solid wastes.

2. Composting of household waste generated at a residence and composted at the site of generation.

3. Composting activities performed for educational purposes as long as no more than 100 cubic yards of materials are onsite at any time. Greater quantities will be allowed with suitable justification presented to the department. For quantities greater than 100 cubic yards, approval from the department will be required prior to composting.

4. Composting of animal carcasses onsite at the farm of generation.

5. Composting of vegetative waste or yard waste generated onsite by owners or operators of agricultural operations or owners of the real property or those authorized by the owners of the real property provided:

a. All decomposed vegetative waste and compost produced is utilized on said property;

b. No vegetative waste or other waste material generated from other sources other than said property is received;

c. All applicable standards of local ordinances that govern or concern vegetative waste handling, composting, storage or disposal are satisfied; and

d. They pose no nuisance or present no potential threat to human health or the environment.

6. Composting of yard waste by owners or operators who accept yard waste generated offsite shall be exempt from all other provisions of this chapter as applied to the composting activities provided the requirements of 9VAC20-81-397 B are met.

7. Composting of preconsumer food waste and kitchen culls generated onsite and composted in containers designed to prohibit vector attraction and prevent nuisance odor generation.

8. Vermicomposting, when used to process Category I, Category II, or Category III feedstocks in containers designed to prohibit vector attraction and prevent nuisance odor generation. If offsite feedstocks are received no more than 100 cubic yards of materials may be onsite at any one time. For quantities greater than 100 cubic yards, approval from the department will be required prior to composting.

9. Composting of sewage sludge or combinations of sewage sludge with nonhazardous solid waste provided the composting facility is permitted under the requirements of a Virginia Pollution Abatement (VPA) or VPDES permit.

10. Management of solid waste in appropriate containers at the site of its generation, provided that:

a. Putrescible waste is not stored more than seven days between time of collection and time of removal for disposal;

b. Nonputrescible wastes are not stored more than 90 days between time of collection and time of removal for proper management; and

c. Treatment of waste is conducted in accordance with the following:

(1) In accordance with a waste analysis plan that:

(a) Contains a detailed chemical and physical analysis of a representative sample of the waste being treated and contains all records necessary to treat the waste in accordance with the requirements of this part, including the selected testing frequency; and

(b) Is kept in the facility's onsite file and made available to the department upon request.

(2) Notification is made to the receiving waste management facility that the waste has been treated.

11. Using rocks, brick, block, dirt, broken concrete, crushed glass, porcelain, and road pavement as clean fill.

12. Storage of less than 100 waste tires at the site of generation provided that no waste tires are accepted from offsite and that the storage will not present a hazard or a nuisance.

13. Storage in piles of land-clearing debris including stumps and brush, clean wood wastes, log yard scrapings consisting of a mixture of soil and wood, cotton gin trash, peanut hulls, and similar organic wastes that do not readily decompose, are exempt from this chapter if they meet the following conditions at a minimum:

a. The wastes are managed in the following manner:

(1) They do not cause discharges of leachate, or attract vectors.

(2) They cannot be dispersed by wind and rain.

(3) Fire is prevented.

(4) They do not become putrescent.

b. Any facility storing waste materials under the provisions of this subsection shall obtain a stormwater discharge permit if they are considered a significant source under the provisions of 9VAC25-31-120 A 1 c.

c. No more than a total of 1/3 acre of waste material is stored onsite and the waste pile does not exceed 15 feet in height above base grade.

d. Siting provisions.

(1) All log yard scrapings consisting of a mixture of soil and wood, cotton gin trash, peanut hulls, and similar organic wastes that do not readily decompose are stored at the site of the industrial activity that produces them;

(2) A 50-foot fire break is maintained between the waste pile and any structure or tree line;

(3) The slope of the ground within the area of the pile and within 50 feet of the pile does not exceed 4:1;

(4) No waste material may be stored closer than 50 feet to any regularly flowing surface water body or river, floodplain, or wetland; and

(5) No stored waste materials shall extend closer than 50 feet to any property line.

e. If activities at the site cease, any waste stored at the site must be properly managed in accordance with these regulations within 90 days. The director can approve longer timeframes with appropriate justification. Justification must be provided in writing no more than 30 days after ceasing activity at the site.

f. Waste piles that do not meet these provisions are required to obtain a permit in accordance with the permitting provisions in Part V (9VAC20-81-400 et seq.) of this chapter and meet all of the applicable waste pile requirements in Part IV (9VAC20-81-300 et seq.) of this chapter. Facilities that do not comply with the provisions of this subsection and fail to obtain a permit are subject to the provisions of 9VAC20-81-40.

14. Storage of nonhazardous solid wastes and hazardous wastes, or hazardous wastes from conditionally exempt very small quantity generators as defined in Virginia Hazardous Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-60) at a transportation terminal or transfer station in closed containers meeting the U.S. Department of Transportation specifications is exempt from this section and the permitting provisions of Part V (9VAC20-81-400 et seq.) of this chapter provided such wastes are removed to a permitted storage or disposal facility within 10 days from the initial receipt from the waste generator. To be eligible for this exemption, each shipment must be properly documented to show the name of the generator, the date of receipt by the transporter, and the date and location of the final destination of the shipment. The documentation shall be kept at the terminal or transfer station for at least three years after the shipment has been completed and shall be made available to the department upon request. All such activities shall comply with any local ordinances.

15. Open burning of solid wastes as provided in the following:

a. For forest management, agriculture practices, and highway construction and maintenance programs approved by the State Air Pollution Control Board.

b. For training and instruction of government and public firefighters under the supervision of the designated official and industrial in-house firefighting personnel with clearance from the local firefighting authority. Buildings that have not been demolished may be burned under the provisions of this subdivision only. Additionally, burning rubber tires, asphaltic materials, crankcase oil, impregnated wood, or other rubber-based or petroleum-based wastes is permitted when conducting bona fide firefighting instruction.

c. For the destruction of classified military documents under the supervision of the designated official.

d. For campfires or other fires using clean wood or vegetative waste that are used solely for recreational purposes, for ceremonial occasions, for outdoor preparation of food, and for warming of outdoor workers.

e. For the onsite destruction of vegetative waste located on the premises of private property, provided that no regularly scheduled collection service for such vegetative waste is available at the adjacent street or public road.

f. For the onsite destruction of household waste by homeowners or tenants, provided that no regularly scheduled collection service for such household waste is available at the adjacent street or public road.

g. For the onsite destruction of clean wood waste and debris waste resulting from property maintenance; from the development or modification of roads and highways, parking areas, railroad tracks, pipelines, power and communication lines, buildings or building areas, sanitary landfills; or from any other clearing operations.

16. Open burning of vegetative waste is allowed at a closed landfill that has not been released from postclosure care. The activity shall be included in the text of the postclosure plan and conducted in accordance with § 10.1-1410.3 of the Code of Virginia.

17. Placement of trees, brush, or other vegetation from land used for agricultural or silvicultural purposes on the same property or other property of the same landowner.

18. Using fossil fuel combustion products that are not CCR in one or more of the following applications or when handled, processed, transported, or stockpiled for the following uses:

a. As a base, sub-base or fill material under a paved road, the footprint of a structure, a paved parking lot, sidewalk, walkway or similar structure, or in the embankment of a road. In the case of roadway embankments, materials will be placed in accordance with Virginia Department of Transportation specifications, and exposed slopes not directly under the surface of the pavement must have a minimum of 18 inches of soil cover over the fossil fuel combustion products, the top six inches of which must be capable of sustaining the growth of indigenous plant species or plant species adapted to the area. The use, reuse, or reclamation of unamended coal combustion byproduct shall not be placed in an area designated as a 100-year flood plain;

b. Processed with a cementitious binder to produce a stabilized structural fill product that is spread and compacted with proper equipment for the construction of a project with a specified end use; or

c. For the extraction or recovery of materials and compounds contained within the fossil fuel combustion products.

E. The following solid wastes are exempt from this chapter provided that they are managed in accordance with the requirements promulgated by other applicable state or federal agencies:

1. Management of wastes regulated by the State Board of Health, the State Water Control Board, the Air Pollution Control Board, the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, or any other state or federal agency with such authority.

2. Drilling fluids, produced waters, and other wastes associated with the exploration, development, or production of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal energy.

3. Solid waste from the extraction, beneficiation, and processing of ores and minerals, including coal.

4. Fossil fuel combustion products used for mine reclamation, mine subsidence, or mine refuse disposal on a mine site permitted by the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) when used in accordance with the standards.

5. Solid waste management practices that involve only the onsite placing of solid waste from mineral mining activities at the site of those activities and in compliance with a permit issued by the DMME, that do not include any municipal solid waste, are accomplished in an environmentally sound manner, and do not create an open dump, hazard or public nuisance are exempt from all requirements of this chapter.

6. Waste or byproduct derived from an industrial process that meets the definition of fertilizer, soil amendment, soil conditioner, or horticultural growing medium as defined in § 3.2-3600 of the Code of Virginia, or whose intended purpose is to neutralize soil acidity (see § 3.2-3700 of the Code of Virginia), and that is regulated under the authority of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

7. Fossil fuel combustion products bottom ash or boiler slag used as a traction control material or road surface material if the use is consistent with Virginia Department of Transportation practices. This exemption does not apply to CCR used in this manner.

8. Waste tires generated by and stored at salvage yards licensed by the Department of Motor Vehicles provided that such storage complies with requirements set forth in § 10.1-1418.2 of the Code of Virginia and such storage does not pose a hazard or nuisance.

9. Tire chips used as the drainage material in construction of septage drain fields regulated under the authority of the Virginia Department of Health.

F. The following solid wastes are exempt from this chapter provided that they are reclaimed or temporarily stored incidentally to reclamation, are not accumulated speculatively, and are managed without creating an open dump, hazard, or a public nuisance:

1. Paper and paper products;

2. Clean wood waste that is to undergo size reduction in order to produce a saleable product, such as mulch;

3. Cloth;

4. Glass;

5. Plastics;

6. Tire chips, tire shred, ground rubber; and

7. Mixtures of above materials only. Such mixtures may include scrap metals excluded from regulation in accordance with the provisions of subsection C of this section.

9VAC20-81-250. Groundwater monitoring program.

A. General requirements.

1. Applicability.

a. Existing landfills. Owners or operators of all existing landfills shall be in compliance with the groundwater monitoring requirements specified in this section, except as provided for in subdivision 1 c of this subsection. Owners or operators of landfills that were permitted prior to December 21, 1988, but were closed in accordance with the requirements of their permit or existing regulation prior to December 21, 1988, are not required to be in compliance with the groundwater monitoring requirements specified in this section, unless conditions are recognized that classify the landfill as an Open Dump as defined under 9VAC20-81-45.

b. New landfills. Owners or operators of new facilities shall be in compliance with the groundwater monitoring requirements specified in this section before waste can be placed in the landfill except as provided for in subdivision 1 c of this subsection.

c. No migration potential exemption. Groundwater monitoring requirements under this section may be suspended by the director if the owner or operator can demonstrate that there is no potential for migration of any Table 3.1 constituents to the uppermost aquifer during the active life and the postclosure care period of the landfill. This demonstration shall be certified by a qualified groundwater scientist and shall be based upon:

(1) Site-specific field collected measurements including sampling and analysis of physical, chemical, and biological processes affecting contaminant fate and transport; and

(2) Contaminant fate and transport predictions that maximize contaminant migration and consider impacts on human health and the environment.

2. General requirements.

a. Purpose. Owners or operators shall install, operate, and maintain a groundwater monitoring system that is capable of determining the landfill's impact on the quality of groundwater in the uppermost aquifer at the disposal unit boundary during the active life and postclosure care period of the landfill.

b. Program requirements. The groundwater monitoring program shall meet the requirements of subdivision 3 of this subsection and comply with all other applicable requirements of this section.

c. Director authority. The groundwater monitoring and reporting requirements set forth here are minimum requirements. The director may require, by modifying the permit as allowed under 9VAC20-81-600 E, any owner or operator to install, operate, and maintain a groundwater monitoring system and conduct a monitoring program that contains requirements more stringent than this chapter imposes whenever it is determined that such requirements are necessary to protect human health and the environment.

3. Groundwater monitoring system.

a. System requirements. A groundwater monitoring system shall be installed consisting of a sufficient number of monitoring wells, at appropriate locations and depths, capable of yielding sufficient quantities of groundwater for sampling and analysis purposes from the uppermost aquifer that:

(1) Represent the quality of background groundwater that has not been affected by a release from the landfill; and

(2) Represent the quality of groundwater at the disposal unit boundary. The downgradient monitoring system shall be installed at the disposal unit boundary in a manner that ensures detection of groundwater contamination in the uppermost aquifer unless a variance has been granted by the director under 9VAC20-81-740.

(3) When physical obstacles preclude installation of groundwater monitoring wells at the disposal unit boundary, the downgradient monitoring wells may be installed at the closest practicable distance hydraulically downgradient from the boundary in locations that ensure detection of groundwater contamination in the uppermost aquifer.

b. Multiunit systems. The director may approve a groundwater monitoring system that covers multiple waste disposal units instead of requiring separate groundwater monitoring systems for each unit when the landfill has several units, provided the multiunit groundwater monitoring system meets the requirement of subdivision 3 of this subsection and can be demonstrated to be equally protective of human health and the environment as individual monitoring systems. The system for each waste disposal unit would be based on the following factors:

(1) Number, spacing, and orientation of the waste disposal units;

(2) Hydrogeologic setting;

(3) Site history;

(4) Engineering design of the waste disposal units; and

(5) Type of waste accepted at the waste disposal units.

c. Well construction. All monitoring wells shall be of a size adequate for sampling and shall be cased and grouted in a manner that maintains the integrity of the monitoring well bore hole. This casing shall be screened or perforated, and packed with gravel or sand where necessary, to enable sample collection at depths where appropriate aquifer flow zones exist. The annular space above the sampling depth shall be sealed with a suitable material to prevent contamination of samples and the groundwater.

d. Boring logs. A log shall be made of each newly installed monitoring well describing the soils or rock encountered, and the hydraulic conductivity of the geologic units (formations) encountered. A copy of the final log(s) with appropriate maps, including at a minimum a site plan showing the location of all monitoring wells, the total depth of monitoring well, the location of the screened interval, the top and bottom of sand or gravel pack, and the top and bottom of the seal shall be sent to the department with the certification required under subdivision 3 g of this subsection.

e. Well maintenance. The monitoring wells, piezometers, and other groundwater measurement, sampling, and analytical devices shall be operated and maintained in a manner that allows them to perform to design specifications throughout the duration of the groundwater monitoring program. Nonfunctioning monitoring wells must be replaced or repaired upon recognition of damage or nonperformance. Well repair or replacement shall be coordinated with the department prior to initiating the action.

f. Network specifics. The network shall include at least one upgradient monitoring well and at least three downgradient monitoring wells. The number, spacing, and depths of monitoring wells included in a landfill's network shall be determined based on:

(1) Site-specific technical information that shall include thorough characterization by the owner or operator of:

(a) The thickness of any unsaturated geologic units or fill materials that may overlay the uppermost aquifer;

(b) The thickness and description of materials comprising the uppermost aquifer;

(c) Materials comprising the confining unit defining the lower boundary of the uppermost aquifer, including, but not limited to, thicknesses, stratigraphy, lithology, hydraulic conductivities, porosities, and effective porosities; and

(d) the calculated groundwater flow rate and direction within the uppermost aquifer including any seasonal and temporal fluctuations in groundwater flow.

(2) The lateral spacing between downgradient monitoring wells based on site-specific information supplied under subdivision 3 f (1) of this subsection.

g. Monitoring well certification. The groundwater monitoring well(s) shall, within 30 days of well(s) installation, be certified by a qualified groundwater scientist noting that all wells have been installed in accordance with the documentation submitted under subdivision 3 d of this subsection. Within 14 days of completing this certification, the owner or operator shall transmit the certification to the department.

4. The groundwater sampling and analysis requirements for the groundwater monitoring system are as follows:

a. Quality assurance and control. The groundwater monitoring program shall include consistent field sampling and laboratory analysis procedures that are designed to ensure monitoring results that provide an accurate representation of the groundwater quality at the background and downgradient wells. At a minimum the program shall include procedures and techniques for:

(1) Sample collection;

(2) Sample preservation and shipment;

(3) Analytical procedures;

(4) Chain of custody control; and

(5) Quality assurance and quality control.

b. Analytical methods. The groundwater monitoring program shall include sampling and analytical methods that are appropriate for groundwater sampling and that accurately measure solid waste constituents in groundwater samples. Groundwater samples obtained pursuant to 9VAC20-81-250 B or C shall not be filtered prior to laboratory analysis. The sampling, analysis and quality control/quality assurance methods set forth in EPA document SW-846, as amended, shall be used. The department may require re-sampling if it believes the samples were not properly sampled or analyzed.

c. Groundwater rate and flow. Groundwater elevations at each monitoring well shall be determined immediately prior to purging each time a sample is obtained. The owner or operator shall determine the rate and direction of groundwater flow each time groundwater is sampled pursuant to subsection B or C of this section or 9VAC20-81-260. Groundwater elevations in wells that monitor the same waste disposal unit or units shall be measured within a period of time short enough to avoid temporal variations, which could preclude accurate determination of groundwater flow rate and direction.

d. Background data. The owner or operator shall establish background groundwater quality in a hydraulically upgradient or background well, or wells, for each of the monitoring parameters or constituents required in the particular groundwater monitoring program that applies to the landfill. Background groundwater quality may be established at wells that are not located hydraulically upgradient from the landfill if they meet the requirements of subdivision 4 e of this subsection.

e. Alternate well provision. A determination of background quality may be based on sampling of wells that are not upgradient from the waste disposal unit or units where:

(1) Hydrogeologic conditions do not allow the owner or operator to determine what wells are upgradient; and

(2) Sampling at these wells will provide an indication of background groundwater quality that is as representative or more representative than that provided by the upgradient wells.

f. Sampling and statistics. The number of samples collected to establish groundwater quality data shall be consistent with the appropriate statistical procedures determined pursuant to subdivision 4 g of this subsection.

g. Statistical methods. The owner or operator shall specify in the Groundwater Monitoring Plan the statistical method(s) listed in subsection D of this section that will be used in evaluating groundwater monitoring data for each monitoring constituent. The statistical test(s) chosen shall be applied separately for each groundwater constituent in each well after each individual sampling event required under subdivision B 2 or 3, C 2 or 3, or as required under 9VAC20-81-260 E 1.

h. Evaluation and response. After each sampling event required under subsection B or C of this section, the owner or operator shall determine whether or not there is a statistically significant increase over background values for each groundwater constituent required in the particular groundwater monitoring program by comparing the groundwater quality of each constituent at each monitoring well installed pursuant to subdivision 3 a of this subsection to the background value of that constituent. In determining whether a statistically significant increase has occurred, the owner or operator shall:

(1) Ensure the sampling result comparisons are made according to the statistical procedures and performance standards specified in subsection D of this section;

(2) Ensure that within 30 days of completion of sampling and laboratory analysis actions, the determination of whether there has been a statistically significant increase over background at each monitoring well has been completed; and

(3) If identified, the statistically significant increase shall be reported to the department within the notification timeframes identified in subsection B or C of this section and discussed in the quarterly or semi-annual report submission described under subdivision E 2 c of this section. Notifications qualified as being "preliminary," "suspect," "unverified," or otherwise not a final determination of a statistical exceedance will not be accepted.

i. Verification sampling. The owner or operator may at any time within the 30-day statistically significant increases determination period defined under subdivision A 4 h (2) of this section, obtain verification samples if the initial review of analytical data suggests results that might not be an accurate reflection of groundwater quality at the disposal unit boundary. Undertaking verification sampling is a voluntary action on the part of the owner or operator and shall not alter the timeframes associated with determining or reporting a statistically significant increase as otherwise defined under subdivision A 4 h (2), B 2 or 3, or C 2 or 3 of this section.

j. Data validation. The owner or operator may at any time within the 30-day statistically significant increases determination period defined under subdivision A 4 h (2) of this subsection, undertake third-party data validation of the analytical data received from the laboratory. Undertaking such validation efforts is a voluntary action on the part of the owner or operator and shall not alter the timeframes associated with determining or reporting a statistically significant increase as otherwise defined under subdivision A 4 h (2), B 2 or 3, or C 2 or 3 of this section.

5. Alternate source demonstration allowance.

a. Allowance. As a result of any statistically significant increase identified while monitoring groundwater under subdivision B 2 or 3, or C 2 or 3 of this section, or at anytime within the Corrective Action process under 9VAC20-81-260, the owner or operator has the option of submitting an Alternate Source Demonstration report, certified by a qualified groundwater scientist, demonstrating:

(1) A source other than the landfill caused the statistical exceedance;

(2) The exceedance resulted from error in sampling, analysis, or evaluation; or

(3) The exceedance resulted from a natural variation in groundwater quality.

b. Timeframes. A successful demonstration must be made within 90 days of noting a statistically significant increase. The director may approve a longer timeframe for submittal and approval of the Alternate Source Demonstration with appropriate justification.

c. Evaluation and response. Based on the information submitted in accordance with subdivision 5 a of this subsection, the director will:

(1) In the case of the successful demonstration of an error in sampling, analysis, or evaluation, allow the owner or operator to continue monitoring groundwater in accordance with the monitoring program in place at the time of the statistical exceedance.

(2) In the case of a successful demonstration of an alternate source for the release or natural variability in the aquifer matrix:

(a) Require changes in the groundwater monitoring system as needed to accurately reflect the groundwater conditions and allow the owner or operator to continue monitoring groundwater in accordance with the monitoring program in place at the time of the statistical exceedance;

(b) Require any changes to the monitoring system be completed prior to the next regularly scheduled groundwater monitoring event or within 90 days (whichever is greater); and

(c) Require any changes to the monitoring system be approved via the modification process under 9VAC20-81-600 within 90 days of the approval of the alternate source demonstration.

(3) In the case of an unsuccessful Alternate Source Demonstration, require the owner or operator to initiate the actions that would otherwise be required as a result of the statistically significant increase noted under subdivision B 2 or 3, or C 2 or 3 of this section as appropriate.

6. Establishment of groundwater protection standards.

a. Requirement. Upon recognition of a statistically significant increase over background and while monitoring in the Assessment or Phase II monitoring programs defined under subdivision B 3 or C 3 of this section, the owner or operator shall propose a groundwater protection standard for all detected Table 3.1 Column B constituents. The proposed standards shall be submitted to the department by a qualified groundwater scientist and be accompanied by relevant historical groundwater sampling data to justify the proposed concentration levels.

b. Establishment process. The groundwater protection standards shall be established in the following manner:

(1) For constituents for which a maximum contaminant level (MCL) has been promulgated under § 1412 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (40 CFR Part 141), the MCL for that constituent shall be automatically established as the groundwater protection standard upon submission of the proposed standards.

(2) If the owner or operator determines that a site-specific background concentration is greater than the MCL associated with that constituent under subdivision 6 b (1) of this subsection, the background value may be substituted for use as the groundwater protection standard in lieu of the MCL for that constituent upon receiving written department approval.

(3) For constituents for which no MCL has been promulgated, site-specific background concentration value(s) may be used upon receiving written department approval.

(4) For constituents for which no MCL has been promulgated, a risk-based alternate concentration levels may be used if approved by the director as long as:

(a) The owner or operator submits a request to the department asking for approval to use risk-based alternate concentration levels for a specific list of constituents and identifies that these constituents lack an MCL. In the request the owner or operator shall specify whether site-specific, independently calculated, risk-based alternate concentration levels will be applied, or if the facility will accept the default department-provided limits.

(b) The alternate concentration levels that may be provided as default values by the department and those independently calculated by the owner or operator are demonstrated to meet the following criteria or factors before they can be used as groundwater protection standards:

(i) Groundwater quality - The potential for adverse quality effects considering the physical and chemical characteristics of the waste in the landfill, its potential for migration in the aquifer; the hydrogeological characteristics of the facility and surrounding land; the rate and direction of groundwater flow; the proximity and withdrawal rates of groundwater users; the current and future uses of groundwater in the area; the existing quality of groundwater, including other sources of contamination and their cumulative impact on the groundwater quality.

(ii) Human exposure - Potential for health risks caused by exposure to waste constituents released from the landfill using federal guidelines for assessing the health risks of environmental pollutants; scientifically valid studies conducted in accordance with the Toxic Substances Control Act Good Laboratory Practice Standards (40 CFR Part 792); or equivalent standards. For carcinogens, the alternate concentration levels must be set based on a lifetime cancer risk level due to continuous lifetime exposure within the 1x10^-4 to 1x10^-6 range. For systemic toxicants, alternate concentration levels must be demonstrated to be levels to which the human population (including sensitive subgroups) could be exposed to on a daily basis without the likelihood of appreciable risk of deleterious effects during a lifetime.

(iii) Surface water - The potential adverse effect on hydraulically connected surface water quality based on the volume, physical and chemical characteristics of the waste in the landfill; the hydrogeological characteristics of the facility and surrounding land; the rate and direction of groundwater flow; the patterns of rainfall in the region; the proximity of the landfill to surface waters; the current and future uses of surface waters in the area and any water quality standards established for those surface waters; the existing quality of surface water, including other sources of contamination and the cumulative impact on surface water quality.

(iv) Other adverse effects - Potential damage to wildlife, crops, vegetation, and physical structures caused by exposure to waste constituents; the persistence and permanence of the potential adverse effects; and the potential for health risks caused by human exposure to waste constituents using factors shown in subdivision b (4) (b) (ii) of this subsection.

(5) In making any determination regarding the use of alternate concentration levels under this section, the director will:

(a) Consider any identification of underground sources of drinking water as identified by EPA under 40 CFR 144.7,

(b) Consider additional or modified monitoring requirements or control measures,

(c) Include a schedule for the periodic review of the alternate concentration levels, or

(d) Approve the alternate concentration levels as proposed or issue modified alternate concentration levels.

c. Implementation. Groundwater protection standards shall be considered established for the facility upon completion of the actions described under either subdivision A 6 b (1), (2), (3) or if necessary (4) and shall be placed in the facility Operating Record and shall be used during subsequent comparisons of groundwater sampling data consistent with the requirements of subdivision B 3 f or C 3 e of this section.

d. MCL and background revisions. After establishment of groundwater protection standards under subdivision B 6 b, if the standards are modified as a result of revisions to any MCL or department-approved background, the facility shall update its listing of groundwater protection standards and shall place the new list in the Operating Record and shall use the new values during subsequent comparisons of sampling data consistent with the requirements of subdivision B 3 f or C 3 e of this section.

e. Alternate concentration levels revisions. After establishment of groundwater protection standards under subdivision B 6 b of this section, if the department-approved alternate concentration levels change based on information released by EPA, to the extent practical, the department will issue revisions to the alternate concentration levels for facility use no more often than an annual basis. The facility shall use the alternate concentration levels listing in effect at the time the sampling event takes place when comparing the results against the groundwater protection standards under subdivision B 3 f or C 3 e of this section.

B. Monitoring for sanitary landfills.

1. Applicability.

a. Existing facilities. Except for those sanitary landfills identified in subdivision C 1 of this section, existing sanitary landfill facilities and closed facilities that have accepted waste on or after October 9, 1993, and in the case of 'small' landfills on or after April 9, 1994, shall be in compliance with the detection monitoring requirements specified in subdivision 2 of this subsection unless existing sampling data requires a move to assessment monitoring described under subdivision 3 of this subsection.

b. New facilities. Facilities placed in operation to receive waste after October 9, 1993, shall be in compliance with the detection monitoring requirements specified in subdivision 2 of this section before waste can be placed in the landfill unless existing sampling data requires a move to assessment monitoring described under subdivision 3 of this subsection.

c. Closed facilities. Unless an extension to the deadline above has been granted by the director, closed facilities that have ceased to accept any waste on or before October 9, 1993, and in the case of a "small" landfill, before April 9, 1994, may comply with the "State Monitoring Program" monitoring requirements specified in subdivision C 2 or 3 of this section.

d. Other facilities. Owners or operators of disposal facilities not subject to the federal groundwater monitoring requirements prescribed under 40 CFR Parts 257 and 258 must perform the groundwater monitoring described in subdivision C 2 or 3 of this section.

e. Proximity to wetlands. Owners or operators of sanitary landfills that accepted waste after June 30, 1999, must:

(1) Perform quarterly groundwater monitoring unless the director determines that less frequent monitoring is necessary consistent with the requirements of the special provisions regarding wetlands in § 10.1-1408.5 of the Code of Virginia.

(2) The quarterly monitoring frequency shall remain in effect until the department is notified waste is no longer being accepted at the sanitary landfill.

(3) This requirement will not limit the authority of the Waste Management Board or the director to require more frequent groundwater monitoring if required to protect human health and the environment.

(4) For purposes of this subdivision "proximity to wetlands" shall be defined as landfills that were constructed on a wetland, have a potential hydrologic connection to such a wetland in the event of an escape of liquids from the facility, or are within a mile of such a wetland.

2. Detection monitoring program.

a. Sampling requirements. All sanitary landfills shall implement detection monitoring except as otherwise provided in subdivision 1 of this subsection. The monitoring frequency for all constituents listed in Table 3.1 Column A shall be as follows:

(1) Initial sampling period.

(a) For facilities that monitor groundwater on a semi-annual basis, a minimum of four independent samples from each well (background and downgradient) shall be collected and analyzed for the Table 3.1 Column A constituents during the first semi-annual sampling period. A semi-annual period is defined under 9VAC20-81-10.

(b) For facilities that monitor groundwater on a quarterly basis as a result of subdivision 1 e of this subsection, a minimum of four samples from each well (background and downgradient) shall be collected and analyzed for the Table 3.1 Column A constituents. The samples shall be collected within the first quarterly period, using a schedule that ensures, to the greatest extent possible, an accurate calculation of background concentrations.

(2) Subsequent sampling events. At least one sample from each well (background and downgradient) shall be collected and analyzed during subsequent semi-annual or quarterly events during the active life and postclosure period. Data from subsequent background sampling events may be added to the previously calculated background data so that the facility maintains the most accurate representation of background groundwater quality with which to carry out statistical analysis required under subdivision A 4 h of this section.

(3) Alternate sampling events. The director may specify an appropriate alternate frequency for repeated sampling and analysis during the active life (including closure) and the postclosure care period. The alternate frequency during the active life (including closure) and the postclosure period shall be no less than annual. The alternate frequency shall be based on consideration of the following factors:

(a) Lithology of the aquifer and unsaturated zone;

(b) Hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer and unsaturated zone;

(c) Groundwater flow rates;

(d) Minimum distance between upgradient edge of the disposal unit boundary and downgradient monitoring well screen (minimum distance of travel); and

(e) Resource value of the aquifer.

b. Evaluation and response. If the owner or operator determines under subdivision A 4 h of this section, that there is:

(1) A statistically significant increase over background as determined by a method meeting the requirements of subsection D of this section, for one or more of the constituents listed in Table 3.1 Column A at any of the monitoring wells at the disposal unit boundary during any detection monitoring sampling event, the owner or operator shall:

(a) Within 14 days of this finding, notify the department of this fact, indicating which constituents have shown statistically significant increases over background levels; and

(b) Within 90 days, (i) establish an assessment monitoring program meeting the requirements of subdivision 3 of this subsection, or (ii) submit an Alternate Source Demonstration as specified in subdivision A 5 of this section. If, after 90 days, a successful demonstration has not been made, the owner or operator shall initiate an assessment monitoring program as otherwise required in subdivision 3 of this subsection. The 90-day Alternate Source Demonstration period may be extended by the director for good cause.

(2) No statistically significant increase over background as determined by a method meeting the requirements of subsection D of this section, for any of the constituents listed in Table 3.1 Column A at any of the monitoring wells at the disposal unit boundary during any detection monitoring sampling event; the owner or operator may remain in detection monitoring and include a discussion of the sampling results and statistical analysis in the semi-annual or quarterly report required under subdivision E 2 c of this section.

3. Assessment monitoring program. The owner or operator shall implement the assessment monitoring program whenever a statistically significant increase over background has been detected during monitoring conducted under the detection monitoring program.

a. Sampling requirements. Within 90 days of recognizing a statistically significant increase over background for one or more of the constituents listed in Table 3.1 Column A, the owner or operator shall, unless in receipt of an approval to an Alternate Source Demonstration under subdivision A 5 of this section or a director-approved extension, conduct the initial assessment monitoring sampling event for the constituents found in Table 3.1 Column B. A minimum of one sample from each well installed under subdivision A 3 a of this section shall be collected and analyzed during the initial and all subsequent annual Table 3.1 Column B sampling events.

b. Director provisions:

(1) The owner or operator may request that the director approve an appropriate subset of monitoring wells that may remain in detection monitoring defined under subdivision 2 of this subsection, based on the results of the initial, or subsequent annual Table 3.1 Column B sampling events. Monitoring wells may be considered for the subset if:

(a) They show no detections of Table 3.1 Column B constituents other than those already previously detected in detection monitoring defined under subdivision 2 of this subsection; and

(b) They display no statistically significant increases over background for any constituents on the Table 3.1 Column A list. If an increase is subsequently recognized in a well approved for the subset, the well shall no longer be considered part of the detection monitoring subset.

(2) The owner or operator may request the director delete any of the Table 3.1 Column B monitoring constituents from the assessment monitoring program if the owner or operator demonstrates that the deleted constituents are not reasonably expected to be in or derived from the waste.

(3) The director may specify an appropriate alternate frequency for repeated sampling and analysis for the full set of Table 3.1 Column B constituents required by subdivision 3 a of this subsection during the active life and postclosure care period based on the consideration of the following factors:

(a) Lithology of the aquifer and unsaturated zone;

(b) Hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer and unsaturatedzone;

(c) Groundwater flow rates;

(d) Minimum distance between upgradient edge of the disposal unit boundary and downgradient monitoring well screen (minimum distance of travel);

(e) Resource value of the aquifer; and

(f) Nature (fate and transport) of any constituents detected in response to subdivision 3 f of this subsection.

c. Development of background. After obtaining the results from the initial or subsequent annual sampling events required in subdivision 3 a of this subsection, the owner or operator shall:

(1) Within 14 days, notify the department identifying the Table 3.1 Column B constituents that have been detected;

(2) Within 90 days, and on at least a semi-annual basis thereafter, resample all wells installed under subdivision A 3 a of this section, conduct analyses for all constituents in Table 3.1 Column A as well as those constituents in Column B that are detected in response to subdivision 3 a of this subsection and subsequent Table 3.1 Column B sampling events as may be required of this section, and report this data in the semi-annual or quarterly report defined under subdivision E 2 c of this section;

(3) Within 180 days of the initial sampling event, establish background concentrations for any Table 3.1 Column B constituents detected pursuant to subdivision B 3 a of this subsection. A minimum of four independent samples from each well (background and downgradient) shall be collected and analyzed to establish background for the detected constituents.

d. Establishment of groundwater protection standards. Within 30 days of establishing background under subdivision 3 c (3) of this subsection, submit proposed groundwater protection standards for all constituents detected under Assessment monitoring. The groundwater protection standards shall be approved by the director in accordance with the provisions of subdivision A 6 of this section.

e. Groundwater monitoring plan. No later than 60 days after approval of the groundwater protection standards in accordance with subdivision A 6 of this section, the owner or operator shall submit an updated Groundwater Monitoring Plan that details the site monitoring well network and sampling and analysis procedures undertaken during groundwater monitoring events. The owner or operator shall additionally:

(1) No later than 30 days after the submission of the Groundwater Monitoring Plan, request a permit modification to incorporate the plan and related groundwater monitoring modules into the landfill's permit in accordance with 9VAC20-81-600. The department may waive the requirement for a permit modification if the Groundwater Monitoring Plan included in the landfill's permit reflects current site conditions in accordance with the regulations.

(2) If the 30-day timeframe specified in subdivision 3 e (1) of this subsection is exceeded, the director will modify the permit in accordance with 9VAC20-81-600 E.

f. Evaluation and response.

(1) If the concentrations of all Table 3.1 Column B constituents are shown to be at or below background values, using the statistical procedures in subsection D of this section, for two consecutive Table 3.1 Column B sampling events, the owner or operator shall notify the director of this finding in the semi-annual or quarterly monitoring report and may return to detection monitoring defined under subdivision 2 of this subsection.

(2) If the concentrations of any Table 3.1 Column B constituents are found to be above background values, but below the groundwater protection standards established under subdivision A 6 of this section using the statistical procedures in subsection D of this section, the owner or operator shall continue in assessment monitoring in accordance with this section and present the findings to the department in the semi-annual or quarterly report.

(3) If one or more Table 3.1 Column B constituents are detected at statistically significant levels above the groundwater protection standard established under subdivision A 6 of this section using the statistical procedures in subsection D of this section, the owner or operator shall:

(a) Within 14 days of this finding, notify the department identifying the Table 3.1 Column B constituents that have exceeded the groundwater protection standard. The notification will include a statement that within 90 days the owner or operator will either:

(i) Undertake characterization and assessment actions required under 9VAC20-81-260 C 1; or

(ii) Submit an Alternate Source Demonstration as specified in subdivision A 5 of this section. If a successful demonstration is made within 90 days, the owner or operator may continue monitoring in accordance with the assessment monitoring program pursuant to subdivision 3 of this subsection. If the 90-day period passes without demonstration approval, the owner or operator shall comply with the actions under 9VAC20-81-260 C within the timeframes specified unless the director has granted an extension to those timeframes.

(b) Describe the results in the semi-annual or quarterly report.

C. Monitoring for CDD, industrial, and State Monitoring Program sanitary landfills.

1. Applicability.

a. Sanitary landfills. Owners or operators of sanitary disposal facilities that have ceased to accept solid waste prior to the federally imposed deadline of October 9, 1993, or in the case of a "small landfill" before April 9, 1994, are eligible, with the director's approval, to conduct the state groundwater monitoring program described in this section in lieu of the groundwater monitoring program required under subdivision B 2 or 3 of this section.

b. CDD and industrial landfills. Owners or operators of CDD and industrial landfills not subject to the federal groundwater monitoring requirements prescribed under 40 CFR Parts 257 and 258 shall perform the groundwater monitoring described in this section.

c. Other landfills. All other landfills excluding sanitary landfills, including those that accepted hazardous waste from conditionally exempt very small quantity generators after July 1, 1998, shall perform the groundwater monitoring described in this section.

2. First determination monitoring program.

a. Sampling requirements. A first determination monitoring program shall consist of a background-establishing period followed by semi-annual sampling and analysis for the constituents shown in Table 3.1 Column A at all wells installed under subdivision A 3 a of this section. Within 14 days of each event during first determination monitoring, notify the department identifying the Table 3.1 Column A constituents that have been detected.

b. Development of background. Within 360 days of the initial first determination sampling event:

(1) Establish background concentrations for any constituents detected pursuant to subdivision 2 a of this subsection.

(a) A minimum of four independent samples from each well (background and downgradient) shall be collected and analyzed to establish background concentrations for the detected constituents using the procedures in subsection D of this section.

(b) In those cases where new wells are installed downgradient of waste disposal units that already have received waste, but these wells have not yet undergone their initial sampling event, collection of four independent samples for background development will not be required.

(2) Within 30 days of completing the background calculations required under subdivision 2 b (1) (a) of this subsection, submit a first determination report, signed by a qualified groundwater scientist, to the department which must include a summary of the background concentration data developed during the background sampling efforts as well as the statistical calculations for each constituent detected in the groundwater during the background sampling events.

c. Semi-annual sampling and analysis. Within 90 days of the last sampling event during the background-establishing period and at least semi-annually thereafter, sample each monitoring well in the compliance network for analysis of the constituents in Table 3.1 Column A.

d. Evaluation and response. Upon determination of site background under subdivision 2 b (1) (a) of this subsection, the results of all subsequent first determination monitoring events shall be assessed as follows:

(1) If no Table 3.1 Column A constituents are found to have entered the groundwater at statistically significant levels over background, the owner or operator shall:

(a) Remain in first determination monitoring; and

(b) May request the director delete any Table 3.1 Column A constituents from the semi-annual sampling list if the owner or operator demonstrates that the proposed deleted constituents are not reasonably expected to be in or derived from the waste.

(2) If the owner or operator recognizes a statistically significant increase over background for any Table 3.1 Column A constituent, within 14 days of this finding, the owner or operator shall notify the department identifying the Table 3.1 Column A constituents that have exceeded background levels. The notification will include a statement that within 90 days the owner or operator shall:

(a) Initiate a Phase II sampling program; or

(b) Submit an Alternate Source Demonstration under subdivision A 5 of this section.

(3) If a successful demonstration is made and approved within the timeframes established under subdivision A 5 of this section, the owner or operator may remain in First Determination monitoring.

(4) If a successful demonstration is not made and approved within the timeframes established under subdivision A 5 of this section, the owner or operator shall initiate Phase II monitoring in accordance with the timeframes in subdivision C 3 of this section. The director may approve a longer timeframe with appropriate justification.

3. Phase II monitoring.

a. Sampling requirements. The owner or operator shall:

(1) Within 90 days of noting the exceedance over background determined under subdivision C 2 d of this section, sample the groundwater in all monitoring wells installed under subdivision A 3 a of this section for all Table 3.1 Column B constituents;

(2) After completing the initial Phase II sampling event, continue to sample and analyze groundwater on a semi-annual basis within the Phase II monitoring program;

b. Background development. If no additional Table 3.1 Column B constituents are detected other than those previously detected under Column A, which already have established their background levels, the owner or operator shall follow the requirements under subdivision 3 c of this subsection regarding groundwater protection standard establishment while continuing to sample for the Table 3.1 Column A list on a semi-annual basis. If one or more additional Table 3.1 Column B constituents are detected during the initial Phase II sampling event:

(1) Within 360 days, establish a background value for each additional detected Table 3.1 Column B constituent.

(2) Submit a Phase II Background report within 30 days of completing the background calculations including a summary of the background concentration data for each constituent detected in the groundwater during the Table 3.1 Column B background sampling events.

(3) If any detected Table 3.1 Column B constituent is subsequently not detected for a period of two years, the owner or operator may petition the director to delete the constituent from the list of detected Table 3.1 Column B constituents that must be sampled semi-annually.

c. Establishment of groundwater protection standards. No later than:

(1) Thirty days after submitting the Phase II Background report required under the provisions of subdivision 3 b (2) of this subsection, or within 30 days of obtaining the results from the initial Table 3.1 Column B sampling event indicating no further sampling for background determination is necessary, the owner or operator shall propose a groundwater protection standard for all detected Table 3.1 constituents.

(2) The groundwater protection standard proposed shall be established in a manner consistent with the provisions in subdivision A 6 of this section.

d. Groundwater monitoring plan. No later than 60 days after establishment of groundwater protection standards in accordance with subdivision A 6 of this section, the owner or operator shall submit an updated Groundwater Monitoring Plan that details the site monitoring well network and sampling and analysis procedures undertaken during groundwater monitoring events. The department may waive the requirement for an updated plan if the Groundwater Monitoring Plan included in the landfill's permit reflects current site conditions in accordance with the regulations.

(1) No later than 30 days after the submission of the Groundwater Monitoring Plan, the owner or operator shall request a permit modification to incorporate the updated plan and related groundwater monitoring modules into the landfill's permit in accordance with 9VAC20-81-600.

(2) If the 30-day timeframe specified in subdivision 3 d (1) of this subsection is exceeded, the director will modify the permit in accordance with 9VAC20-81-600 E.

e. Evaluation and response. After each subsequent Phase II monitoring event following establishment of groundwater protection standards, the concentration of Table 3.1 Column B constituents found in the groundwater at each monitoring well installed pursuant to subdivision A 3 a of this section will be evaluated against the groundwater protection standards. The evaluation will be presented to the department in a semi-annual Phase II report. The evaluation will be as follows:

(1) If all Table 3.1 constituents are shown to be at or below background values, using the statistical procedures in subsection D of this section, for two consecutive Table 3.1 Column B sampling events, the owner or operator shall notify the director of this finding in the semi-annual report and may return to first determination monitoring;

(2) If any Table 3.1 Column B constituents are found to be above background values, but are below the established groundwater protection standard using the statistical procedures in subsection D of this section, the owner or operator shall continue semi-annual Phase II monitoring and present the findings in a semi-annual report;

(3) If one or more Table 3.1 Column B constituents are above the established groundwater protection standard using the statistical procedures in subsection D of this section, the owner or operator shall:

(a) Notify the department within 14 days of this finding. The notification will include a statement that within 90 days the owner or operator will either: (i) undertake the characterization and assessment actions required under 9VAC20-81-260 C 1; or (ii) submit an alternate source demonstration as specified in subdivision A 5 of this section. If a successful demonstration is made within 90 days, the owner or operator may continue monitoring in accordance with Phase II monitoring program. If the 90-day period is exceeded, the owner or operator shall comply with the timeframes of 9VAC20-81-260 C unless the director has granted an extension to those timeframes; and

(b) Present the findings in the semi-annual report.

D. Statistical methods and constituent lists.

1. Acceptable test methods. The following statistical test methods may be used to evaluate groundwater monitoring data:

a. A parametric analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by multiple comparisons procedures to identify statistically significant evidence of contamination. The method must include estimation and testing of the contrasts between each compliance well's mean and the background mean levels for each constituent.

b. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) based on ranks followed by multiple comparisons procedures to identify statistically significant evidence of contamination. The method must include estimation and testing of the contrasts between each compliance well's median and the background median levels for each constituent.

c. A tolerance or prediction interval procedure in which an interval for each constituent is established from the distribution of the background data, and the level of each constituent in each compliance well is compared to the upper tolerance or prediction limit.

d. A control chart approach that gives control limits for each constituent.

e. Another statistical test method that meets the performance standards specified below. Based on the justification submitted to the department, the director may approve the use of an alternative test. The justification must demonstrate that the alternative method meets the performance standards in subdivision 2 of this subsection.

2. Performance standards. Any statistical method chosen by the owner or operator shall comply with the following performance standards, as appropriate:

a. The statistical method used to evaluate groundwater monitoring data shall be appropriate for the distribution of monitoring parameters or constituents. If the distribution is shown by the owner or operator to be inappropriate for a normal theory test, then the data shall be transformed or a distribution-free theory test shall be used. If the distributions for the constituents differ, more than one statistical method may be needed.

b. If an individual well comparison procedure is used to compare an individual compliance well constituent concentration with background constituent concentrations or a groundwater protection standard, the test shall be done at a Type I error level no less than 0.01 for each testing period. If a multiple comparisons procedure is used, the Type I experiment-wise error rate for each testing period shall be no less than 0.05; however, the Type I error of no less than 0.01 for individual well comparisons must be maintained.

c. If a control chart approach is used to evaluate groundwater monitoring data, the specific type of control chart and its associated parameter values shall be protective of human health and the environment. The parameters shall be determined after considering the number of samples in the background data base, the data distribution, and the range of the concentration values for each constituent of concern.

d. If a tolerance interval or a predictional interval is used to evaluate groundwater monitoring data, the levels of confidence and, for tolerance intervals, the percentage of the population that the interval must contain, shall be protective of human health and the environment. These parameters shall be determined after considering the number of samples in the background data base, the data distribution, and the range of the concentration values for each constituent of concern.

e. The statistical method shall account for data below the limit of detection with one or more statistical procedures that are protective of human health and the environment. Any estimated quantitation limit (EQL) that is used in the statistical method shall be the lowest concentration level that can be reliably achieved within specified limits of precision and accuracy during routine laboratory operating conditions that are available to the landfill.

f. If necessary, the statistical method shall include procedures to control or correct for seasonal and spatial variability as well as temporal correlation in the data.

E. Recordkeeping and reporting.

1. Records pertaining to groundwater monitoring activities shall be retained at a specified location by the owner or operator throughout the active life and postclosure care period of the landfill, and shall include at a minimum:

a. All historical groundwater surface elevation data obtained from wells installed pursuant to subdivision A 3 a of this section;

b. All historical laboratory analytical results for groundwater sampling events required under the groundwater monitoring programs as described in this section;

c. All records of well installation, repair, or abandonment actions;

d. All department correspondence to the landfill; and

e. All approved variances, well subsets, wetlands, or other such director/department approvals.

2. Reporting requirements.

a. Annual report.

(1) An Annual Groundwater Monitoring Report shall be submitted by the owner or operator to the department no later than 120 days from the completion of sampling and analysis conducted under subdivision A 4 h of this section for the second semi-annual event or fourth quarterly event during each calendar year and shall by accompanied by:

(a) A signature page; and

(b) A completed QA/QC DEQ Form ARSC-01.

(2) The technical content of the annual report shall at a minimum, contain the following topical content:

(a) The landfill's name, type, permit number, current owner or operator, and location keyed to a USGS topographic map;

(b) Summary of the design type (i.e., lined versus unlined), operational history (i.e., trench fill versus area fill), and size (acres) of the landfill including key dates such as beginning and termination of waste disposal actions and dates different groundwater monitoring phases were entered;

(c) Description of the surrounding land use noting whether any adjoining land owners utilize private wells as a potable water source;

(d) A discussion of the topographic, geologic, and hydrologic setting of the landfill including a discussion on the nature of the uppermost aquifer (i.e., confined versus unconfined) and proximity to surface waters;

(e) A discussion of the monitoring wells network noting any modifications that were made to the network during the year or any nonperformance issues and a statement noting that the monitoring well network meets (or did not meet) the requirements of subdivision A 3 of this section;

(f) A listing of the groundwater sampling events undertaken during the previous calendar year;

(g) A historical table listing the detected constituents, and their concentrations identified in each well during the sampling period; and

(h) Evaluations of and appropriate responses to the groundwater elevation data; groundwater flow rate as calculated using the prior years elevation data; groundwater flow direction (as illustrated on a potentiometric surface map); and sampling and analytical data obtained during the past calendar year.

b. Semi-annual or quarterly report.

(1) After each sampling event has been completed for the 1st semi-annual or first, second and third quarterly groundwater sampling events, a semi-annual or quarterly monitoring report shall be submitted under separate cover by the owner or operator to the department no later than 120 days from the completion of sampling and analysis conducted under subdivision A 4 h of this section, unless as allowed under a director-approved extension. The report shall at a minimum contain the following items:

(a) Signature page signed by a professional geologist or qualified groundwater scientist;

(b) Landfill name and permit number;

(c) Statement noting whether or not all monitoring points within the permitted network installed to meet the requirements of subdivision A 3 a of this section were sampled as required under subdivision B 2 or 3 or C 2 or 3 during the event;

(d) Calculated rate of groundwater flow during the sampling period as required under subdivision A 4 c of this section;

(e) The groundwater flow direction as determined during the sampling period as required under subdivision A 4 c of this section presented as either plain text or graphically as a potentiometric surface map;

(f) Statement noting whether or not there were statistically significant increases over background or groundwater protection standards during the sampling period, the supporting statistical calculations, and reference to the date the director was notified of the increase pursuant to timeframes in subdivision B 2 or 3 or C 2 or 3, if applicable;

(g) Copy of the full Laboratory Analytical Report including dated signature page (laboratory manager or representative) to demonstrate compliance with the timeframes of subdivision A 4 h of this section. The department will accept the lab report in CD-ROM format.

(2) In order to reduce the reporting burden on the owner or operator and potential redundancy within the operating record, a discussion of the second semi-annual or fourth quarterly sampling event results may be presented in the Annual Report submission.

c. Other submissions. Statistically significant increase notifications, well certifications, the first determination report, alternate source demonstration, nature and extent study, assessment of corrective measures, presumptive remedy proposal, corrective action plan or monitoring plan, or other such report or notification types as may be required under 9VAC20-81-250 or 9VAC20-81-260, shall be submitted in a manner which achieves the timeframe requirements as listed in 9VAC20-81-250 or 9VAC20-81-260.